Game apparatus

ABSTRACT

Described is a player activated game system, particularly adapted for playing instant lottery type games, that includes a game device having a computer containing at least one game, an electronic display and a card interface adapted to receive a game card having data that represents a particular game outcome such that connection of the card to the interface can result the game being played by the device with the particular outcome displayed on the display.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority on U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationSer. No. 60/675,186, filed Apr. 27, 2005 and is a continuation-in-partof U.S. Ser. No. 10/114,372, filed Apr. 1, 2002, which in turn iscontinuation of U.S. Ser. No. 09/455,564, filed Dec. 6, 1999, now U.S.Pat. No. 6,379,742, which in turn is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Ser.No. 08/794,120, filed Feb. 3, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,997,044, whichin turn is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. No. 08/263.888 filed Jun.22, 1994, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,599,046.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention generally relates to game and lottery systems, and moreparticularly to systems using game cards such as instant lotterytickets.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

With respect to lotteries, scratch-off or instant win lottery ticketshave been a staple of the lottery industry for decades. They have beenenjoyed by billions of players over the world for years. Innovations ininstant win ticket game design have sustained the product and allowedfor growth. Though, recently the instant win lottery ticket market salesincreases have become relatively flat.

One method of combating this undesirable trend is to produce higherpayout instant win tickets. However, most lottery jurisdictions regulatepayout percentages by charter and therefore cannot utilize higher payouttickets as a means of increasing sales. It is therefore desirable todevelop a new methodology of marketing instant win lottery tickets wherethe player perceives added value independent of increases in payoutpercentages.

Another method is to expand the distribution of instant tickets to newlocations like super market checkout lanes. However, the logistics andsecurity problems associated with placing instant lottery tickets insuper market check out lanes has hitherto made this expandeddistribution impractical.

A third method is to enlarge the instant ticket to expand the limitedamount of play (a.k.a. scratch-off) area to create an extended playexperience. These larger tickets permit larger or multiple play areas(e.g., Bingo games). But, the physical size of a ticket can be increasedonly by a limited amount. Typically the largest tickets measure 4×10inches and, at that size, are cumbersome. The players often perceivethat the playing time does not reflect the higher cost of largertickets.

Yet another method is to create a small electronic game device on whichan instant lottery type game can be played. In one case a game alongwith a predetermined win outcome for the game is programmed into amicroprocessor prior to assembly of the device by connecting ports ofthe microprocessor to selected tracks on a printed circuit board asdescribed in U.S. Patent Application, Publication No. US 2004/0235550.

SUMMARY

It is one object to describe a player activated game system thatovercomes at least some of the disadvantages of the products referencedabove.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plan drawing of a probability lottery ticket having anelectrical signature according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan drawing of the partial electrical circuit that providesthe card in FIG. 1 its electrical signature;

FIG. 3 is a schematic representation of a gravure printing press used toprint the ticket in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a plan drawing of the first layer printed on the ticket inFIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a plan drawing of the second layer printed on the ticket inFIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a plan drawing of the third layer printed on the ticket inFIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a plan drawing of customized graphics printed on the firstportion of the ticket in FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a plan drawing showing the placement of the play indicia,validation number, inventory control number, and bar code which areprinted on the ticket in FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a plan drawing of the back of the ticket in FIG. 1;

FIG. 10 is a plan drawing of the fourth layer printed on the ticket inFIG. 1;

FIG. 11 is a plan drawing of the fifth and sixth layers printed on theticket in FIG. 1;

FIG. 12 is a plan drawing of the seventh layer printed on the lotteryticket on FIG. 1;

FIG. 13 is a plan drawing of the eighth layer printed on the lotteryticket in FIG. 1;

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of an electronic verification machineaccording to the invention;

FIG. 15 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of anelectronic verification machine according to the invention;

FIG. 16 is a plan drawing of the user interface of the electronicverification machine in FIG. 14;

FIG. 17 is a block diagram of the major internal components of theelectronic verification machine in FIG. 14;

FIG. 18 is a block diagram of the circuitry of the electronicverification machine in FIG. 14;

FIG. 19 is a plan drawing of the partial printed circuit used todetermine the authenticity and integrity of the bar code of the ticketin FIG. 1;

FIG. 20 is a plan drawing of the partial printed circuit used todetermine the authenticity and integrity of the play spot areas of theticket in FIG. 1;

FIG. 21 is a plan drawing of another printed partial circuit which canbe used to determine the authenticity and integrity of a probabilitylottery ticket;

FIG. 22 is a schematic circuit diagram of the completed circuit which isformed when the partial circuit in FIG. 20 is coupled to an electronicverification machine;

FIG. 23 is a plan drawing of a probability lottery ticket before theticket is printed with yet another partial circuit which be used todetermine the authenticity and integrity of the ticket;

FIG. 24 is a plan drawing of the release coat printed on the ticket inFIG. 23;

FIG. 25 is a plan drawing of the partial circuit used to determine theauthenticity and integrity of the ticket in FIG. 23;

FIG. 26 is a plan drawing of the ticket in FIG. 23 in its final printedformat;

FIG. 27 is a plan drawing of a second embodiment of the release coatprinted on the ticket in FIG. 23;

FIG. 28 is a plan drawing of the circuit used to determine theauthenticity and integrity of the ticket in FIG. 23;

FIG. 29 is a plan drawing of another circuit which can be used todetermine the authenticity and integrity of a probability game ticket;

FIG. 30 is a plan drawing of another circuit which can be used todetermine the authenticity and integrity of a probability game ticket;

FIG. 31 is a plan drawing of four printed resistors having differentresistances;

FIG. 32 is a plan drawing of a partial printed circuit which includes acalibration line;

FIG. 33 is a partial plan drawing illustrating a ticket inductivelycoupled to an electronic verification machine;

FIG. 34 is a partial plan drawing of a conductor which can be printed ona ticket to provide an RF antenna;

FIG. 35 is a partial schematic circuit diagram of circuit which measuresthermal variations to determine the authenticity and integrity of aticket;

FIG. 36 is a plan drawing of a lottery ticket having sixteen play spotareas;

FIG. 37 is a plan drawing of the ticket in FIG. 36 having the play spotareas removed to reveal the underlying play indicia;

FIG. 38 is a block diagram of a second embodiment of an electronicverification machine;

FIG. 39 is a partial sectioned side view of the electronic verificationmachine of FIG. 38 illustrating a document transport mechanism;

FIG. 40 is a block diagram of a portion of the circuitry of theelectronic verification machine of FIG. 38;

FIG. 41 is a schematic diagram of a position sensor array and buffercircuit that can be used with the circuit of FIG. 39;

FIG. 42 is a perspective view of an alternative position sensor arraythat can be used with the electronic verification machine of FIG. 38;

FIG. 43 is a plan view of a first lottery ticket suitable for use withthe electronic verification machine of FIG. 38;

FIG. 44 is a game signature map representing the location of ascratch-off coating having conductive material on the lottery ticket ofFIG. 43;

FIG. 45 is a data map representing the data out put of the electronicverification machine of FIG. 38 for the lottery ticket of FIG. 43;

FIG. 46 is an exploded perspective view of a pull-tab lottery ticket;

FIG. 47 is an illustrative top view of the pull-tab lottery ticket ofFIG. 46 in conjunction with a signature map;

FIG. 48 is an illustrative top view of the pull-tab lottery ticket ofFIG. 46 positioned below an electronic verification machine sensorarray;

FIG. 49 is a plan drawing of a second embodiment of a probability ticketaccording to the invention;

FIG. 50 is a plan drawing of the circuit elements that form parts of theticket shown in FIG. 49;

FIG. 51 is a schematic representation of a gravure printing press usedto print the ticket in FIG. 49;

FIG. 52 is a plan drawing of a first blocking layer that is part of theticket in FIG. 49;

FIG. 53 is a plan drawing of one of the circuit elements in FIG. 49 asprinted on the first blocking layer in FIG. 52;

FIG. 54 is a plan drawing of a masking layer that is apart of the ticketshown in FIG. 49;

FIG. 55 is a plan drawing of a primer layer that is apart of the ticketshown in FIG. 49;

FIG. 56 is a plan drawing of the display portion graphics that are partof the ticket shown in FIG. 49;

FIG. 57 is a plan drawing of play indicia which are part of the ticketshown in FIG. 49;

FIG. 58 is a plan drawing of the back of the ticket shown in FIG. 49;

FIG. 59 is a plan drawing of a seal coat which is part of the ticketshown in FIG. 49;

FIG. 60 is a plan drawing of a release coat which is part of the ticketshown in FIG. 49;

FIG. 61 is a plan drawing of an upper blocking layer that is part of theticket shown in FIG. 49;

FIG. 62 is a plan drawing of some of the circuit elements shown in FIG.50 as printed on the blocking layer shown in FIG. 61;

FIG. 63 is a plan drawing is a plan drawing of a scratch-off layer thatis part of the ticket shown in FIG. 49;

FIG. 64 is a plan drawing of a combined seal-release coat that can beused on the ticket instead of the seal coat and the release coat thatare shown in FIGS. 63 and 64, respectively;

FIG. 65 is an enlarged plan drawing of one of the circuit elements shownin FIG. 50 and illustrates a first printing defect;

FIG. 66 is a plan drawing of the circuit element in FIG. 64 andillustrates a second printing defect;

FIG. 67 is an enlarged plan drawing of one of the circuit elements inFIG. 50 and shows the configuration of the circuit element relative to aplay indicia and a release coat portion or a seal-release coat portion;

FIG. 68 is a plan drawing of a data card according to the invention;

FIG. 69 is a perspective view of a third electronic verification machineaccording to the invention;

FIG. 70 is a block diagram of the relationship among the majorcomponents of the electronic verification machine in FIG. 69;

FIG. 71 is a top plan view of a sensor head which forms a part of theelectronic verification machine in FIG. 69;

FIG. 72 is a simplified partial circuit diagram of the capacitivecoupling between the sensor head in FIG. 71 and a document being tested;

FIG. 73A is a plan view of a first printed layer pattern that can beused with the electronic verification machine in FIG. 69;

FIG. 73B is a conceptual representation of two capacitors which areformed when the sensor array of the electronic verification machine inFIG. 69 is capacitively coupled to a document which contains the firstprinted layer pattern shown in FIG. 73A;

FIG. 74A is a plan view of a second printed layer pattern that can beused with the electronic verification machine in FIG. 69;

FIG. 74B is a conceptual representation of two capacitors which areformed when the sensor array of the electronic verification machine inFIG. 69 is capacitively coupled to a document which contains the secondprinted layer pattern shown in FIG. 74A;

FIG. 75A is a plan view of a third printed layer pattern that can beused with the electronic verification machine in FIG. 69;

FIG. 75B is a conceptual representation of two capacitors which areformed when the sensor array of the electronic verification machine inFIG. 69 is capacitively coupled to a document which contains the thirdprinted layer pattern shown in FIG. 75A;

FIG. 76 is a example of a printed circuit element that can beelectronically altered by the electronic verification machine in FIG.69, to stigmatize a document being tested;

FIG. 77 is a functional block diagram of a stigmatization circuit thatcan be used to stigmatize a document having the printed circuit elementof the type shown FIG. 76;

FIG. 78 is a front perspective view of a first player activatedelectronic validation machine;

FIG. 79 is a front plan view of a first game card or lottery ticket foruse with the electronic validation machine of FIG. 78;

FIG. 80 is a back plan view of the lottery ticket of FIG. 79;

FIG. 81 is a schematic diagram of the components of the electronicvalidation machine of FIG. 78;

FIG. 82 is a schematic diagram of circuits printed on the substrate ofthe lottery ticket of FIG. 79;

FIG. 83 is a plan view of the substrate of the lottery ticket of FIG. 79with a first circuit shorting mechanism;

FIGS. 84A and 84B are plan views of the substrate of the lottery ticketof FIG. 79 with a second circuit shorting mechanism;

FIG. 85 front view of a second player activated electronic validationmachine wit an associated game card;

FIG. 86 is a rear view of the electronic validation machine of FIG. 85;

FIG. 87 is a front perspective view of the electronic validation machineof FIGS. 85 and 86 with a game card partially inserted;

FIG. 88 is a exploded view of the electronic validation machine of FIGS.85 and 86;

FIG. 89 a block diagram of the components of the electronic validationmachine of FIG. 85;

FIG. 90 is a side view of a first spring connecter for use with anelectronic validation machine of the type shown in FIG. 85;

FIG. 91 is a side view of a second spring connecter for use with anelectronic validation machine of the type shown in FIG. 85;

FIG. 92 is a side view of a third spring connecter for use with anelectronic validation machine of the type shown in FIG. 85;

FIG. 93 exploded view of a third player activated electronic validationmachine with an associated game card; and

FIGS. 94A, 94B and 94C are depictions of displays of potential gameoutcomes displayed by an electronic validation machine of the type shownin FIG. 93.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

I. General Overview

The present invention is directed to a method and to an interrelatedgroup of devices for determining the authenticity and integrity of adocument and includes printing a portion of an electrical circuit on thedocument or applying a material having electrical conductive propertieson the document. “Document”, as that term is used herein, is not limitedto conventional printed papers but includes any type of flexiblesubstrate as well as rigid substrates such as printed circuit boards. Adocument is authentic if it is not the product of counterfeiting. Theintegrity of a document relates to its current physical state ascompared to its initial physical state and is affected by unauthorizedmodifications or attempted modifications of the document by, forexample, subjecting the document to chemicals, heat, light, or pressure.The electrical characteristics of the printed circuit or the location ofthe conductive material provide the basis for determining both theauthenticity and the integrity of the document. These characteristicscan also be used to obtain data from the document.

A first method is to choose a predetermined, measurable electricalproperty, for example, a known resistance or capacitance, that willserve as the electrical signature of the document. Next, at least aportion of an electrical circuit is printed on the document usingconductive or semi-conductive inks. The electrical circuit is designedso that when the circuit is completed, the circuit will generate anelectrical signature that is substantially equal to a chosenpredetermined electrical signature. Last, the circuit on the document iscoupled to an electronic verification machine for determining theauthenticity and integrity of the document by comparing the signalcharacteristics of the circuit on the document to the predeterminedsignature.

The electronic verification machine provides at least three functions.First, the electronic verification machine completes the circuit andprovides a power source for exciting the circuit. Second, the electronicverification machine measures the resulting electrical signature of thedocument. And third, the electronic verification machine determineswhether the measured electrical signature is substantially the same asthe predetermined electrical signature. There are a number of ways inwhich the electronic verification machine can determine the authenticityand integrity of the document. The electronic verification machine candirectly determine the authenticity and integrity of the document byusing data directly available to the electronic verification machine.Alternatively, the electronic verification machine can indirectlydetermine the authenticity and integrity of a document by communicatingthe measured electrical signature to a remote computer which containsdata related to the predetermined electrical signature for the document.Determining the authenticity and integrity of the document is, in itssimplest form, a logical progression. Generally, if an electricalsignature can not be measured, the document is not authentic, is not inits original integral state, or both. On the other hand, if anelectrical signature can be measured and the measured electricalsignature is substantially the same as the predetermined electricalsignature, the document can be assumed to be authentic and in itsoriginal integral state. If an electrical signature can be measured butis substantially different than the predetermined electrical signature,at the very least the document is not in its original integral state.This method will be explained in terms of a representative documentwhich in this case is a probability game lottery ticket.

A second method is similar to the first method but involves thedetermination of the location of conductive materials on the document.This method will be explained in conjunction with the second embodimentof the electronic verification machine.

II. Probability Game Lottery Ticket Configuration.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is an electronic verificationmachine that can be used to determine the integrity and authenticity ofa document, such as a probability game lottery ticket. Consequently, abrief overview of probability game lottery tickets is helpful. Aprobability game lottery ticket typically includes a group of play areasor play spots, each containing play indicia covered by an opaquematerial, usually a latex material. A player can win a prize if heremoves the latex from a predetermined combination or combinations ofplay spots which define one or more winning redemption values. Generallythe player is instructed to rub off only a specified number of playspots. Thus, a game may require a player to rub off three play spots. Inthis case, if the player rubs off more than three play spots, the ticketis void and player automatically loses. If the play indicia under theremoved play spots match one of the predetermined combination(s), theplayer is eligible to redeem the ticket for a prize. On the other handif the removed play spots do not match one of the predeterminedcombination(s), the redemption value of the ticket will be zero.

FIG. 1 illustrates the final printed format of a probability game ticket50 according to one embodiment of the invention. The ticket 50 includesa card substrate 52 which is generally divided into two portions. Afirst portion 54, the display portion, contains various types of printedinformation such as the name 56 of the probability game, information 58related to the rules for playing the ticket, and customized art work 60.A second portion, the playing field portion 62, includes overprint areas66, 68 and 76. The square overprint areas 66 define a group of play spotareas 72A-H of the ticket 50. As shown in FIG. 1, the overprint area ofone play spot area 72A has been rubbed off the reveal the underlyingplay indicia 74. The play indicia 74 can take any on a variety of formsincluding, as shown here, a dollar value. The play indicia 74 can alsobe formed from letters or words alone, numbers alone, or symbols alone,or any combination of letters, numbers, or symbols. Although notillustrated, it is to be understood that play indicia similar to playindicia 74 underlie each of the play spot areas 72B-H.

The overprint area 76 defines the void-if-removed area of the ticket 50.A validation number 78, shown in FIG. 8, underlies the void-if-removedarea defined by the overprint area 76. The validation number 78 containsvarious types of security information including a portion that isusually algorithmically related to the pack number and ticket number fora particular ticket, such as the ticket 50. The pack number identifiesthe pack from which the ticket 50 originates. The ticket number relatesto the position of the ticket 50 within the pack. In addition as will beexplained below, the validation number 78 can also include informationrelated to the electrical signature(s) of the ticket 50. The validationnumber 78 is useful for determining the authenticity and integrity ofthe ticket 50, as explained in greater detail below, in Section V.

A bar code 80 is also printed within the playing field portion 62 of theticket 50. The bar code 80 can include information related to thevalidation number, the pack and ticket numbers for the ticket 50 and tothe redemption values of various combinations of the play indicia 74 ineach of the play spot areas 72A-H. The bar code 80 can also be used tostore information about the value of the play indicia 74 on the ticket50, as is explained in greater detail below, in Section V.

FIG. 2. illustrates a partial electrical circuit 81 which is interposedbetween the overprint areas 64-68 and the play indicia 74 of the ticket50 shown in FIG. 1. In the preferred embodiment, the circuit 81 includeseight resistor tracks 82-96 which are divided into two columns of fourresistor tracks each. Each resistor track 82-96 underlies the overprintareas 68 shown in FIG. 1 which define each of the play spot areas 72A-Hin FIG. 1. In addition, each resistor track 82-96 overlies a playindicia such as 74. Eight conductive or capacitive pick-up areas 98A-Hare located around the periphery of the resistor tracks 82-96 and acentral conductive track 100 is located between the two columns ofresistor tracks 82-96. The central conductive track 100 is connected toa conductive I-track shown at 102 which includes a terminal conductivebar 104 and a second conductive bar 106 parallel to and spaced apartfrom the terminal conductive bar 104. A resistive track 107 connects theterminal conductive bar 104 to the second conductive bar 106. In thefinal printed format, such as that shown in FIG. 1, the terminalconductive bar 104 underlies the bar code 80.

Each resistor track 82-96 is electrically connected to the centralconductive track 100 and to one of the conductive areas 98A-H, forexample, resistor track 82 is electrically connected to centralconductive track 100 and to conductive area 98A. The conductive areas98A-H and the central conductive track 100 are used to capacitivelycouple the ticket 50 to an electronic verification machine 108, such asthat illustrated in FIG. 14. In the preferred embodiment, eachconductive area 98A-H acts as a capacitor plate, the other capacitorplate being provided by the electronic verification machine 108. Inaddition, the central conductive track 100 also acts as a capacitorplate, the second capacitor plate being provided by the electronicverification machine 108. The capacitive coupling of the conductiveareas 98A-H and the central conductive track 100 to the electronicverification machine 108 completes the printed circuit 81 and permitsthe electronic verification machine 108 to excite the circuit and tomeasure the electrical signature or signatures of ticket 50. Since thecapacitive coupling of the conductive areas 98A-H and the centralconductive track 100 to the electronic verification machine 108 permitsthe electronic verification machine 108 to measure the electricalsignature(s) of ticket 50, areas 98A-H and track 100 are also known ascapacitive pick-up areas because through these areas the electronicverification machine 108 “picks-up” the electrical signature of ticket50.

Because each of the resistor tracks 82-96 is electrically connected toboth the central conductive bar 100 and to one of the conductive areas98A-H, each of the resistor tracks 82-96 forms a complete circuit whenthe ticket 50 is coupled to the electronic verification device 108. Thuseach of the resistor tracks 82-96 has its own electrical signature equalto the printed resistance of the resistor track. As shown in FIG. 2,each of the four resistor tracks in the two columns has the sameresistance. Since each of the resistor tracks 82-96 is electricallyconnected to its associated conductive area 98A-H, the integrity of theeight circuits containing the eight resistor tracks 82-96 can bedetermined by reference to the specific conductive area 98A-H used tomeasure the electrical signature. Alternatively, each resistive trackmay have a unique resistance. For example, the resistor track 82 canhave a resistance of 100 KΩ, the resistor track 84 can have a resistanceof 300 KΩ, the resistor track 86 can have a resistance of 500 KΩ, andthe resistor track 88 can have a resistance of 2700 KΩ. Similarly, theresistor tracks 90-96 can have resistances of 100 KΩ, 300 KΩ, 500 KΩ,and 700 KΩ) respectively. As is explained in greater detail in SectionsIII and IV.C.1., the magnitude of the resistance for a specific resistortrack is a function of the type of ink used to print the resistor track,the length of the resistor track and the cross-sectional area, includingthe thickness, of the resistor track. Differences in the fourresistances 82-88 or 90-96 in a given column of resistor tracksfacilitate the determination of the authenticity and the integrity ofthe ticket 50 and more particularly can be used to determine which ofthe overprint areas 68 have been rubbed off.

Circuit 81, as shown in FIG. 2, is actually a composite of severallayers used to print ticket 50. The following section describes indetail the sequence and relationship of the various layers used to printticket 50.

III. Printing The Electrical Signature

In the preferred embodiment, the circuit 81 is printed onto the ticket50 preferable via a gravure printing process. The gravure printingprocess allows for the widest range of ink and coating formulations. Thegravure printing process, however, is not the only printing process thatcan be used to print the circuits. Gravure is only one type of intaglioprinting process. Other types of intaglio printing processes can be usedas well. In addition, the circuit 81 can be printed via screen printing,relief printing, planographic printing, letterpress and flexographicprinting. In the preferred embodiment, the ticket 50 is printed on apaper substrate. Paper substrates are preferred because they offer goodinsulation and absorbency. Alternatively, the ticket 50 could be printedon a plastic or a metal, such as an aluminum foil, substrate. If a foilsubstrate is used, portions of the foil can serve as the main conductorfor the ticket 50, while other portions of the ticket 50 are coveredwith an insulating layer.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram representing a gravure printing press 112suitable for printing ticket 50. The press 112 has fifteen gravureprinting stations 114-142 and one ink jet station 144. As is explainedin more detail below, each of the press stations 114-142 prints onelayer on the ticket 50 while the ink jet printer 144 prints the playindicia 74 and the bar code 80.

Station 114 prints a first layer or surface 146 which is shown in FIG.4. The first layer 146 is printed with a conductive-carbon based ink andforms a part of the circuit 81 shown in FIG. 2. The first layer 146includes two portions the first of which is an I-track 148. The I-track148 includes the terminal conductive bar 104 and the resistive track 107which form part of the I-track 102 illustrated in FIG. 2. A secondconductive bar 150 of the I-track 148 underlies the second conductivebar 106 of the I-track 102 of FIG. 2. The second portion of the firstlayer 146 consists of a pair of rows of blocking cells 152. Each of theblocking cells 152 is positioned to underlie one of the play indicia 74which are subsequently printed on the ticket 50.

The ink used to print the layer 146 should have a sheet resistivitybelow 2,700 Ω/□ preferably in the range of 1,000 Ω/□ to 1,300 Ω/□. Inthe ticket 50 shown in FIGS. 1-13, the ink used to print the lowerconductive layer 146 would most desirably have a sheet resistivity of1,200 Ω/□. “Sheet resistivity” (ρs), as that term is used herein, is thebulk resistivity of the ink (ρ) divided by the thickness of the film ofink (t) printed on the ticket 50. Sheet resistivity (ρs) will typicallybe expressed in terms of ohms/square (Ω/□). In practice, the sheetresistivity of an ink is determined by printing and measuring theresistance of a unit length and width.ρs=ρ/tSheet resistivity (ρs) will typically be expressed in terms ofohms/square (Ω/□). In practice, the sheet resistivity of an ink isdetermined by printing and measuring the resistance of a unit length andwidth.

The resistance (R) of a specific resistor in turn is a function of thebulk resistivity of the material and the dimensions of the resistor:R=ρ(l/tw)

Where ρ is the bulk resistivity of the material used to make theresistor, I is the length of the resistor, t is the thickness of theresistor and w is the width of the resistor. Substituting the previousequation for sheet resistivity into the equation for resistance yieldsthe following: R=ρs(l/w) Thus, the resistance of a resistor printed witha conducting or semi-conducting ink is a function of the sheetresistivity of the ink, the length of the printed resistor, and thewidth of the printed resistor. For example, the resistance of a printedresistor with an ink having ρs=100 Ω/□ which is 0.120 inches (0.3048 cm)long and 0.040 inches (0.1016 cm) wide would be:R=ρs(l/w)=100 Ω/□(0.0120/0.040)=300 Ω.

The ink used to print the first layer 146 should also have very goodadhesive properties so that the layer 146 adheres well to the ticket 50and should have good abrasion resistance properties so that the layer146 is not easily rubbed off the ticket 50. A preferred formulation forthe ink used to print the first layer 146 is given in Table 1. TABLE 1Preferred Ink Formulation For Layer 1 material wt % Acrylic Resin 12-18%Pentaerythritol ester of 2-6% modified rosin Conductive carbon 14-20%Polyamine amide/acidic 0.3-1.0% ester dispersant 2-ethyhexyl diphenylphosphate 2-5% plasticizer Anhydrous ethyl alcohol 20-30% Normal Propylacetate 23-33% 50/50 mixed solvent, normal 5% propyl acetate and ethylalcohol 950 varnish 5%The 950 varnish comprises 36.24% normal propyl acetate, 24.92% DM55acrylic, 12.92% pentalyn 830, 17.92% nitro varnish, and 3% santicizer141. The preferred formulation provides a film former, solvent basedink. Film formers are polymers capable of being plasticized to form acontinuous and totally flexible ink. In the preferred formulation, thesolvent evaporates from the printed surface during drying leaving acontinuous, conductive dry ink film. Preferably, the conductive carbonwill be about 2-20μ in size in this formulation.

The first layer 146 serves at least two purposes. First, the solid blacknature of the blocking cells 152 of the first layer 146 serves toprevent unauthorized detection of the play indicia 74, for example, byshining a bright light through the ticket 50. Second, the I-track 148can be used to protect the bar code 80 against unauthorizedmodifications, by providing an electrical signature for the bar code 80which can be measured by the electronic verification machine 108. Itshould be noted that in some cases, especially where the ticket 50 doesnot include the blocking cells 152, it may be desirable to print anopaque blocking layer between the substrate 52 and the play indicia 74.

Station 116 prints the second layer 156 which is shown in FIG. 5. Thesecond layer 156 has two portions: an upper portion 156 a and a lowerportion 156 b. The upper portion 156 a overlies all of the blockingcells 152 of the first layer 146 shown in FIG. 4. The lower portion 156b overlies the terminal conductive bar 104 and the resistive track 107of the I-track 148 of the first layer 146. The gap between the upperportion 156 a and the lower portion 156 b exposes the second conductivebar 150 of the I-track 148 of the first layer 146. The second layer 156acts as a blocking layer to prevent the first layer 146 from obscuringobservation of the play indicia 74 when the ticket 50 is played. Asuitable formulation for the second blocking layer 156 is disclosed inU.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/004,157 the entire disclosure ofwhich is hereby incorporated by reference.

A third layer 158 is then printed by the printing station 118. Theplacement of the third layer 158 is essentially coincident with thesecond layer 156, as shown in FIG. 6. The third layer 158 also includesa upper portion 158 a and a lower portion 158 b separated by a gap whichexposes the second conductive bar 150 of the I-track 148. The thirdlayer 158 is a primer layer which provides a suitable surface forprinting the play indicia 74. A suitable formulation for the thirdprimer layer is disclosed in Walton, U.S. Pat. No. 4,726,608.

Printing stations 120-126 provide the features printed on the displayportion 54 of the ticket 50, as shown in FIG. 7. These printed featuresinclude the name 56 of the probability lottery game, information 58related to the rules for playing the game, and customized art work 60.Because 4 different printing stations 120-126 are used to print thesefeatures, as many as four different colors of ink can be used to printprocess colors.

The ink jet printer 144 prints the play indicia 74 on a portion of thethird layer 158, as shown in FIG. 8. In the preferred embodiment, thereare two columns of play indicia 74, each of which contains four separateplay indicia 74. The two rows of play indicia 74 are positioned so thateach separate play indicia 74 overlies one of the blocking cells 152 ofthe first layer 146 shown in FIG. 4. The ink jet printer 144 also printsthe inventory control number 70, the validation number 78, and the barcode 80 on the ticket 50. In the preferred embodiment, the inventorycontrol number 70, the play indicia 74, the validation number 78, andthe bar code 80 are printed with a water-based dye.

Printing station 128 prints the back 157 of the ticket 50 as shown inFIG. 9. The back 157 may include additional information 159 related tothe rules for playing the ticket 50.

The print station 130 prints a fourth layer 160 on the ticket 50. Thefourth layer 160 is indicated by the shaded portions in FIG. 10. Thefourth layer covers the upper and lower portions 158 a, 158 b of thethird layer 158 shown in FIG. 7, and also covers the play indicia 74,the inventory control number 70, the validation number 78, and the barcode 80. In the same manner as the second and third layers 156 and 158,the fourth layer does not cover the second conductive bar 150 of theI-track 148. The fourth layer 160 is a seal coat which protects theinventory control number 70, play indicia 74, the validation number 78,and the bar code 80 from abrasion and from liquids in which the playindicia 74, the validation number 78, and the bar code 80 are soluble.Suitable materials for this purpose include various polymer materialssuch as acrylics, polyester urethane, epoxy acrylate, and vinyl polymer.A suitable formulation for the third primer layer 158 of FIG. 6 isdisclosed in Walton, U.S. Pat. No. 4,726,608.

The print stations 132 and 134 print a fifth and a sixth layer 162 onthe ticket 50. As shown in FIG. 11, the fifth and sixth layers 162 areprinted as discrete sections which overlie the play indicia 74 and thevalidation number 78. The fifth and sixth layers 162 are indicated bythe shaded areas overlying the play indicia 74 and the validation number78. The fifth and sixth layers 162 are both substantially transparentrelease coats which allow the play indica 74 to be viewed by the playerand at the same time permit an easy removal of subsequent layers by, forexample, rubbing the ticket 50 with a fingernail. The same release coatformula on may be used to print both the fifth and sixth layers 162. Asuitable formulation for the third layer is disclosed in Walton, U.S.Pat. No. 4,726,608. Also, in some cases it may be desirable to use anultraviolet curable seal-release coat in place of the release coats 162.Such seal-release coats are well known in the art.

The print station 136 prints a seventh layer 164 which comprises theremainder of the electrical circuit 81 shown in FIG. 2 which is printedon the ticket 50. As illustrated in FIG. 12, the seventh layer 164 is apatterned layer which includes the resistor tracks 82-96 and theconductive areas 98A-H. The seventh layer 164 also includes theconductive bar 106 of the I-track 102 shown in FIG. 2. As explainedearlier, the resistor tracks 82-96 are connected to the conductive areas98A-H. The resistor tracks 82-96, as printed thus have electricalcontinuity with the conductive areas 98A-H and conductive track 100.

The relationship between the first layer 146 and the seventh layer 164is better understood with reference to FIGS. 19 and 20 which arerespectively plan drawings of the first layer 146 and of the seventhlayer 164 alone. As noted earlier, the first layer 146, shown by itselfin FIG. 19, consists of the blocking cells 152 and the I-track 148. TheI-track 148 includes the terminal conductive bar 104 and the resistivebar 107. The seventh layer 164, shown by itself in FIG. 20, consists ofthe resistive tracks 82-96, the conductive areas 98A-H, the centralconductive track 100 and the conductive bar 106. The seventh layer 164is positioned on the ticket 50 so that the conductive bar 106 of theseventh layer overlies the conductive bar 150 of the first layer 146 toform the partial circuit 81 as illustrated in FIG. 2. The overlyingrelationship of conductive bars 106 and 150 ensures electricalcontinuity between the first layer 146 and the seventh layer 164.

It is desirable that the ink used to print the seventh layer 164 have asheet resistivity at least in the range of 300 Ω/□ to 600 Ω/□ andpreferably, the sheet resistivity should be below 300 Ω/□. Severalparameters can be varied to reduce the sheet resistivity of an ink. Forexample, the shape and size of the conductive particles affects thesheet resistivity of the ink. In addition, metal pigments tend to reducethe sheet resistivity as does a high pigment to binder ratio. However,both metal pigment and a high pigment to binder ratio tend to reduce thegraphic adhesiveness of the ink. Unlike the ink used to print the firstlayer 146, the ink used to print the seventh layer 164 need not haveexceptional adhesive properties because the seventh layer 164 orportions thereof are designed to be removed to reveal the play indicia74 when the ticket 50 is played. Consequently, the ink used to print theseventh layer 164 on the ticket 50, or circuits on other types ofdocuments where the adhesive qualities of the ink are not a majorconsideration, can include metal particles and can have a relativelyhigh pigment to binder ratio. The use of metal particles in place of orin addition to carbon particles can substantiality increase theconductivity of the ink.

A preferred ink formulation for the seventh layer 164 is given in Table2. TABLE 2 Preferred Conductive Ink Formulation For Layer 7 material wt% Acrylic resin 10-15% Pentaerythritol ester of 1-5% modified rosinconductive carbon  5-15% silver plated copper 10-25% particles (5-10 μ)polyamine amide/acid 0.25-0.75% ester dispersant anhydrous ethyl alcohol25-35% normal propyl acetate 28-38%Although the preferred metal particles are sliver plated copperparticles, other conductive metal particles such as aluminum, brass,nickel, iron and iron oxide particles can be used as well. However, itshould be noted that nickel may not be suitable for use in certain typesof documents since it can be toxic if ingested. An eighth layer 168,preferably a scratch-off latex material, is applied at printing station138. As shown in FIG. 13, the eighth layer 168 covers most of theplaying field portion 62 of the ticket 50. The eighth layer 168 does notcover the inventory control number 70 or the bar code 80. The eightlayer 168 does, however, overlie the conductive bar 102 of the seventhlayer 164. The final printing stations 138, 140, and 142 apply overprintgraphics such as overprint areas 66, 68, and 76 illustrated in FIG. 1.The square overprint areas 68 serve to visually identify the individualplay spot areas 72A-H and the overprint area 76, which overlies thevalidation number 78, is printed with the instruction “void if removed.”IV. Measuring The Printed Electrical Signature

A. An Electronic verification Machine

As stated earlier, the circuit 81 on the ticket 50 is completed when theticket 50 is capacitively coupled to the electronic validation orverification machine 108 which then can measure the electrical signatureof the circuit elements such as resistors 82-96 on the ticket 50. FIG.14 is a stylized perspective view of an exterior of the electronicverification machine 108. Although the exact configuration of theexterior of the electronic verification machine 108 can vary, theexterior of the electronic verification machine 108 has three features:a results indicator 174, a ticket interface 176, and a user interface178. As shown in FIG. 14, the results indicator 174 of the electronicverification machine 108 is a display panel 180. The display panel 180can display the results of a ticket validation operation and can alsodisplay the results of verification testing, including tests of theauthenticity and integrity of the ticket 50. The display panel 180 canalso display instructions, such as “Insert Ticket”, concerning the useof the electronic verification machine 108. In place of or incombination with the display panel 180, the electronic verificationmachine 108 can communicate with a printer 181 shown in FIG. 17 whichcan display the results of the ticket validation operation andverification testing as well. The user interface 178 can be a keyboardwhich the player or an agent can use to manually enter data from theticket into the electronic verification machine.

A ticket interface 176 of the electronic verification machine 108includes a ticket slot 182 into which the ticket 50 can be inserted.When the ticket 50 is properly inserted into the ticket slot 182, theconductive areas 98A-H, 100, and 106 are aligned with an array ofcapacitor plates 226A-H, 228 and 230, as shown in FIG. 18, locatedwithin the electronic verification machine 108, to complete the partialcircuit 81 printed on the ticket 50. In addition, the bar code 80 isaligned with a bar code reader 210 (not shown) located within theelectronic verification machine 108.

FIG. 15 is a stylized plan drawing of an alternative embodiment of anelectronic verification machine 183 having a different type of ticketinterface 177. In this embodiment the electronic verification machine183 has a hinged lid 184 which can be raised to expose the ticketinterface 177 which includes a ticket recess 186. Within the ticketrecess 186 is a sensor area 188 containing an array of capacitor plates(not shown) which align with the capacitor areas 98A-H, 100, and 106 onthe ticket 50. The ticket recess 186 also includes a bar code readerarea 190. The ticket 50 is placed within the ticket recess 186 such thatthe bar code 80 can be read through reader area 190 by a bar code reader210 located within the electronic verification machine 183 asillustrated in FIG. 17. The electronic verification machine 183 can alsohave a second sensor area 192 also containing capacitor plates (notshown) which align with the conductive areas 98A-H, 100, and 106 onticket 50.

FIG. 16 is a plan view of the preferred embodiment of the user interfacekeyboard 178. The user interface 178 includes a numeric key pad 196 anda set of operation keys 198-204. The operation key 200 is used to inputthe validation number 78 of the ticket 50 into the electronicverification machine 108 and the operation key 198 is used to manuallyinput the bar code 80 of the ticket 50 into the electronic verificationmachine 108. Keying in of the bar code 80 may be necessary if the barcode reader 210 is not able to read the bar code because, for example,the bar code 80 is damaged or perhaps has been tampered with.

FIG. 17 is a sectioned side view which includes a block diagram of themajor internal components of the electronic verification machine 108.The electronic verification machine includes the bar code reader 210,and a ticket sensor 212. The ticket sensor 212 senses when the ticket 50has been properly inserted so that the bar code 80 can be read by thebar code reader 210. When the ticket is properly inserted the conductiveareas 98A-H, 100, and 106 of the ticket 50 are aligned with a pair ofsensor plates, indicated at 214 and 216, which include an array ofcopper capacitor plates 226A-H, 228 and 230, shown in FIG. 18,positioned in a configuration which mirrors that of the conductive orcapacitor areas 98A-H, 100, and 106 of the ticket 50. The sensor plates214, 216 are part of a sensor head 218 which contains a set ofexcitation and detection circuitry for the electronic verificationmachine 108. The electronic verification machine 108 also includes aprocessor board 220, including a microprocessor and memory, and acommunications interface 222.

The excitation and detection circuitry of the sensor head 218 includes amicrocontroller 224 with associated memory as shown in FIG. 18. Themicrocontroller 224 provides the necessary logic to control theelectronic verification machine 108 and performs various tasks includingcontrolling the communications interface 222, the user interface 178,and the bar code reader 210. The microcontroller 224 also processes themeasured electrical signature of the circuit elements 82-96 on theticket 50 that can be used to determine the authenticity and integrityof the ticket 50. Because the microcontroller 224 requires relativelylittle processing power, a single, self-contained IC can be used toprovide inexpensive processing. Examples of acceptable chips include theMotorola 68HC711E9 and the Intel MCS®-51 Series microcontrollers. Eachof these chips includes a Random Access Memory (“RAM”) and aProgrammable Read Only Memory (“PROM”) and an Analog to Digitalconverter (“A/D”).

As is explained in greater detail below, in Section V., the bar code 80can include information regarding the value of the play indicia 74 ofthe ticket 50. The bar code reader 210 communicates directly with themicrocontroller 224 via an ANSI standard interface, for example, UART.In the preferred embodiment, the bar code reader 210 is a laser scanner.

The communications interface 222 generally is a serial digital interfacewhich may be a driver IC or a modem chip set. As is explained in moredetail in Section V. below, the serial digital interface 222 allows theelectronic verification machine 108 to communicate with a central hostcomputer 223 when necessary to determine the authenticity or integrityof the ticket 50. In the preferred embodiment, a non-standard interfaceor a low-level encryption is included in the design of the serialdigital interface 222 in order to enhance the security of communicationsbetween the electronic verification machine 108 and the central computer223.

In operation, the excitation and detection circuitry of the sensor head218 is capacitively coupled with the partial circuit 81 printed on theticket 50 to complete the circuit 81. Thus, a complete circuit 225including the partial circuit 81 on the ticket 50, as shown in FIG. 21,is completed 81 when the ticket 50 is placed within the ticket slot 182in the sensor head 218. It should be noted that the excitation anddetection circuitry can also be coupled to the ticket 50 by variousother methods including: direct coupling, inductive coupling, radiofrequency coupling and optical coupling, as described below in SectionIV.E.

In the preferred embodiment, the sensor head 218 of the electronicverification machine 108 is capacitively coupled to the circuit 81 onthe ticket 50 to complete the circuit 81. A block circuit diagram of thecompleted circuit 225 is shown in FIG. 21. As noted earlier, theconductive areas 98A-H, the central conductive track 100, and theconductive bar 106 function as capacitor plates. The sensor head 218includes an array of the capacitive coupler plates 226A-H, 228 and 230,arranged in the same configuration as the conductive areas 98A-H, 100and 106. When the ticket 50 is placed in the ticket slot 182, thecapacitor plates 226A-H are aligned with the conductive areas 98A-H, thecentral conductive track 100, and the conductive bar 106 to formcapacitors having an air gap dielectric. Alternatively, the capacitivecouplers 226A-H, 228 and 230 could be arranged within the electronicverification machine 108 so that the capacitor plates 226A-H, 228 and230 are positioned on the side of the ticket 50 opposite the conductiveareas 98A-H, 100 and 106. In this configuration, the capacitors formedby coupling the capacitive couplers 226A-H, 228 and 230 to theconductive areas 98A-H, 100 and 106 would have a dielectric contributedboth by the air gap and by the ticket substrate and printed layerslocated between the conductive areas 98A-H, 100, and 106 and thecapacitor plates 226A-H, 228 and 230.

As noted earlier, each of the resistor tracks 82-96 is capacitivelycoupled in series to one of the capacitor plates 226A-H in the sensorhead 218 via one of the conductive areas 98A-H. Similarly, a capacitoris formed by the capacitor plate 230 and the central conductive track100. In addition, the bar code resistor track 107 is connected in serieswith the capacitor formed by the capacitor plate 228 in the sensor head218 and the conductive bars 106 and 150 and to the capacitor formed bythe conductive track 104 and the capacitor plate 228.

The capacitor plates 226A-H and 228 are connected to a pair of bufferamplifiers 232 and 236. The main buffer amplifier 236 supplies a signalto an integrator 238 in the electronic verification machine 108 which inturn supplies a signal to the microcontroller 224. The secondary bufferamplifier 232 provides a feed back loop to the capacitor plates 226A-Hand 228 and hence the conductive areas 98A-H. The resistor tracks whichare not currently being tested by the electronic verification machine108 can produce stray capacitance which would interfere with themeasured detection signal. To overcome this effect, the secondary bufferamplifier 232 applies the buffered detection signal to the resistortracks which are not being tested, such as tracks 8286, 90-96, and 107,to cancel out the effect of the stray capacitances.

The microcontroller 224 is also connected to a digital to analog (“D/A”)converter 240 which supplies a signal to a voltage controlled oscillator(“VCO”) 242. Because of the size constraints of a typical probabilitygame ticket, such as ticket 50, the capacitance formed by coupling theindividual resistor tracks, such as resistor track 88, to the excitationand detection circuitry is small. For example, a capacitor including aconductive track printed with the ink formulation described in Table 2and having an area of 0.201869 inches² would have a capacitance ofapproximately 9 pF. Consequently, the excitation and detection circuitryincludes an inductor 244 to oppose the effect of the capacitiveimpedance resulting from the small capacitance provided by coupling thecapacitive pick-up areas 98A-98H and 104 to the electronic verificationmachine 108. The output from the VCO 242 is routed through the inductor224 and applied to the central conductive track 100 via the excitationcoupler 230.

When the ticket 50 is inserted into the electronic verification machine108 and the microcontroller 224 is activated, the electronicverification machine 108 begins a discreet verification process for eachresistor track 82-96 and 107. The microcontroller 224 steps an 8-bitoutput bus 245, which controls the D/A converter 240, from a value of255 to zero. The DC output voltage from the D/A 240 is then applied tothe VCO 242 for conversion to frequency. Thus, the microcontroller 224produces a stepped series of decreasing excitation frequencies. Thesestepped excitation frequencies are routed though the inductor 244 andapplied to the central conductive track 100 of the ticket 50 via theexcitation coupler 230. The excitation signal from the VCO 242 isultimately applied to each of the eight resistor tracks 82-96 and thebar code resistor track 107. The microcontroller 224 selects anindividual resistor track, such as resistor track 88, through solidstate switches (not shown) and routes the capacitively coupled detectionsignal to the dual buffer amplifiers 232 and 236. The main bufferamplifier 236 supplies a buffered voltage to the integrator 238 whichconverts the AC detection signal to a DC detection signal and appliesthis DC detection signal to the analog to digital input of themicrocontroller 224 for processing.

In this embodiment, the electronic verification machine 108 uses aiterative resonance seeking algorithm to determine the measuredelectrical signature for each of the resistor tracks 82-96 and 107. Tworegisters (not shown), the resonance register and the temporaryregister, in the microcontroller 224 are used to store successive valuesof the detection signal. The detection signal is the signal producedwhen any of the resistor tracks, such as resistor track 88, is coupledto the electronic verification machine 108 and receives the excitationsignal via the central conductive bar 100. The contents of both theresonance and temporary registers are initially set to zero.

The amplitude of the detection signal is ultimately converted to aneight-bit binary value via the integrator 238 and the A/D input of themicrocontroller 224. The binary converted detection signal is thenstored in the temporary register of the microcontroller 240. and themicrocontroller 240 then compares the contents of the two registers. Ifthe contents of the temporary register is less than the contents of theresonance register, the resonance register contains the binary convertedequivalent of the amplitude corresponding to the resonance frequency ofthe resistor track being tested, such as track 88. Consequently, thefrequency of the excitation signal and the contents of the resonanceregister are output to the processor 220 and in certain cases to thecommunication interface 222 which includes a UART serial digital port.The output of the communication interface 222 which represents theelectrical signature of the resistor track being tested can betransmitted to the central computer 223 or to a lottery terminal (notshown).

If the resonance frequency of the resistor track, such as track 88, isnot detected, the above excitation and detection process is repeated.First, the contents of the temporary register are stored in theresonance register. Thereafter, the 8-bit output bus, which controls theD/A converter 240, is decremented to produce an excitation signal fromthe VCO 242 having a lower frequency than the previously appliedexcitation signal. The new excitation signal is applied to the ticketvia the conductive track 100 and the new detection signal is compared,as previously described, with the contents of the resonance register.This excitation and detection process is repeated for each resistortrack 82-96 and 107 until the detection signal corresponding to thatassociated with the resonance frequency of the resistor track beingtested is determined.

B. Candidate Circuits For Providing The Electrical Signature

1. The T-Square Circuit.

Several different types of circuit configurations can be printed on theticket 50 to provide a measurable electrical signature. In the preferredembodiment, the printed circuit configuration 81, termed a T-squarecircuit, is illustrated in FIG. 2. As noted earlier, each of theresistor tracks 82-96 is electrically connected to one of the conductiveareas. 98A-H and to the central conductive track 100. FIG. 20 is a plandrawing of the partial printed circuit used to determine theauthenticity and integrity of the play spot areas 72A-H and illustratesthe resistor tracks 82-96 connected to the conductive areas 98A-H andthe central conductive track 100. In addition, the bar code resistortrack 107 is electrically connected to the conductive bars 104 and 106.FIG. 19 is a plan drawing of the partial printed circuit used todetermine the authenticity and integrity of the bar code 80 andillustrates the bar code resistive track 107 connected to the conductiveareas 104 and 150. As noted earlier, the first layer 146 printed on theticket 50 includes the bar code resistor track 107 and the conductiveareas 150 and 104. Successive layers, up to and including the sixthlayer 162, do not overlie the conductive area 150 thus leaving theconductive area 150 exposed. The seventh layer 166 consists of thepartial printed circuit used to determine the authenticity and integrityof the play spot areas 72A-H, as shown in FIG. 20. The conductive bar106 of the seventh layer 164 immediately overlies the conductive bar 150of the first layer 146. Consequently, the partial circuit includingcircuit elements 82-96 and 98A-98H for the play spot areas 72A-H, shownin FIG. 20, and the partial circuit for the bar code 80, shown in FIG.19, are electrically connected via the conductive bars 106 and 150.Thus, when the ticket 50 is coupled to the electronic verificationmachine 108, the excitation signal applied to the ticket 50 via thecentral conductive track 100 is also transmitted to the bar coderesistive track 107 via the conductive bars 106 and 150. Therefore, thecompleted circuit 225 which is formed when the ticket 50 is capacitivelycoupled to the sensor head 218 via the conductive areas 98A-H, 100, 104,and 106 is actually nine different, separate circuits, one for each ofthe resistor tracks 82-96 and one for the bar code resistor track 107.

As is explained in Section V. below, the electronic verification device108 tests the integrity of a specific resistor track, such as resistortrack 88, by comparing the measured resistance to the resistance whichshould result from the undisturbed configuration of the resistor trackas originally printed, that is, the predetermined electrical signatureof the resistor track. If the play spot area overlying the resistortrack, such as track 88, has not been altered, for example, rubbed offor lifted to reveal the underlying play indicia, the resistance measuredby the electronic verification machine 108 will be substantially thesame as the resistance which should result from the configuration of theresistor track 88 as originally printed. If, however, the play spot hasbeen removed or lifted, the measured resistance will be substantiallydifferent than the predetermined electrical signature of the track 88.

The T-square circuit 200 can determine the authenticity and integrity ofthe ticket 50 as a whole, of the individual play spot areas 72A-H, andof the bar code 80. If no resistance can be measured for any of theresistor tracks 82-96, it can be assumed that either the ticket 50 is acounterfeit or that all of the play spot areas 72A-H have been rubbedoff thereby rendering the ticket 50 void. Moreover, because the T-squarecircuit 200 provides a different individual circuit for each of theresistor tracks 82-96, the T-square circuit 200 can individually testthe integrity of the individual play spot areas 72A-H.

For example, a particular probability game may require revealing threematching game indicia to win. In addition, the game rules may requirethat no more than three play spot areas be rubbed off to reveal theunderlying indicia. Consider the hypothetical situation in which anindividual presents the ticket 50 to a lottery agent for redemptionbecause the individual has ostensibly rubbed off only three play spotareas and the indicia in the three play spot areas match. By pure visualinspection, the ticket 50 might appear to be a valid and winning ticket.However, when the ticket 50 is inserted into the ticket slot 182 of theelectronic verification machine 108 to measure the resistance of theplay spot areas 72A-H, the electronic verification machine 108 woulddetermine that not only the measured resistances of the three rubbed-offplay spot areas differ from the predetermined resistances for these playspot areas, but also that the measured resistance of other“non-rubbed-off” play spot areas differ from the predeterminedresistances for these areas. This situation could arise, for example,when the individual removes the overprint areas 68 of these additionalplay spot areas to reveal the hidden indicia 74 and then attempts toreplace the overprint areas 68 so that these play spot areas appear tonot have been played. Thus, although visually the ticket 50 appears tobe a valid winning ticket, the measure of the resistances 82-96 wouldindicate that more than three play spot areas have been removed and thattherefore the ticket 50 is void. In addition, if the measured resistanceof the bar code resistor track 107 is substantially different from thepredetermined electrical signature for the bar code 80. it can beassumed that the bar code 80 has been tampered with as well.

2. The Binary Coupled Circuit.

An alternative embodiment of a ticket 250 having a partial printedcircuit 252, termed a binary coupled circuit, is shown in FIG. 21. Thepartial circuit 252 is analogous to the seventh layer 164 printed on theticket 50. As with ticket 50, the partial circuit 252 is ultimatelyprinted on a ticket substrate 254 preferably using a conductive ink ofthe type described in Table 2. Although not shown, it is to beunderstood that additional layers such as a lower conductive layeranalogous to the first layer 146 of ticket 50, a blocking layer and aprimer layer analogous to the second layer 156 and third layer 158 ofthe ticket 50, play indicia analogous to the play indicia 74 of ticket50, a seal coat and release coats analogous to the fourth layer 160 andthe fifth and sixth layers 162 of the ticket 50 are also printed on theticket 250 between the substrate 254 and the partial circuit 252 in amanner similar to that used for ticket 50.

The ticket 250 includes a display portion 256 and a playing fieldportion 258. The display portion 256 is ultimately covered by a coating(not shown) suitable for receiving customized graphics (not shown) andinformation (not shown) related to the rules for playing the ticket 250.The playing field portion includes two columns of four, separatelyremovable play spot areas 260-274. Within the playing field portion 258,the partial circuit includes several conductive areas 276-292 and eightresistor tracks 294-308. Each of the play spot areas 260-274 ispositioned between two conductive areas, for example, play spot area 260is positioned between conductive areas 276 and 278 and play spot area262 is positioned between conductive areas 278 and 280. Each of theresistor tracks 294-308 is also positioned between and electricallyconnected to two of the conductive areas 276-292. For example, resistortrack 294, associated with play spot area 260, is positioned between andconnected to conductive areas 276 and 278. Underlying each of the playspot areas 260-274 is a conductive line (not shown). Each conductiveline is connected to the two conductive areas associated with itsrespective play spot area and resistor track. For example, theconductive line underlying play spot area 260 is connected to conductiveareas 276 and 278.

The three additional conductive areas 310-314 are printed in the displayportion 256 of the ticket 250. The first conductive area 310 isconnected to the first column of four play spots 269-266 via aconductive track 316 connected to the conductive area 284. The secondconductive area 312 is connected to the second column of four play spots268-274 via a second conductive track 318 connected to the conductivearea 292. All eight play spot areas 260-274 are connected to the thirdconductive area 314 via a third conductive track 320 connected to theconductive area 276. The conductive areas 310-314 serve as capacitorplates when the ticket 250 is coupled to an electronic verificationmachine.

Each column of four play spot areas 260-266 and 268-274 forms onecomplete circuit when the ticket 250 is coupled to the electronicverification machine 108. The excitation signal from the electronicverification machine 108 is routed through each group of four play spotareas 260-266 via the common conductive area 314 in the display portion256 of the ticket 250. Each group of four play spot areas 260-266 and268-274 provides its own detection signal. The detection signal for theplay spot areas 260-266 is coupled to the electronic verificationmachine 108 via the conductive track 316 and the conductive area 310.The detection signal for play spot areas 268-274 is coupled to theelectronic verification machine 108 via the conductive track 318 and theconductive area 312.

Within a group of four play spot areas, for example play spot areas260-266, the magnitude of the detection signal varies with the integrityof each of the play spot areas 260-266. If the play spot areas 260-266are intact, the excitation signal is substantially unaltered and isrouted through the conductive lines underlying each of the play spotareas 260-266. However, if a play spot area has been rubbed off orlifted to reveal the underlying play indicia, the signal is routedthrough the resistor track associated with that play spot area. Forexample, if play spot area 260 is intact, the signal proceeds throughthe underlying conductive bar to the conductive area 278. However, ifthe play spot area 260 has been at least partially removed to reveal theunderlying play indicia, the circuit through the conductive line isbroken thus routing the signal through the associated resistor track 294thus changing the characteristics of the detection signal.

In the preferred embodiment of this ticket 250, each of the resistortracks associated with a group of four play spot areas, such as theresistor tracks 294-300 associated with play spot areas 260-266 has aunique predetermined resistance that is related, in a binomialprogression, to the other resistor tracks in the column. For example,resistor track 294 can have a predetermined electrical signature equalto a resistance of 100 KΩ, resistor track 296 can have a predeterminedelectrical signature equal to a resistance of 200 KΩ, resistor track 298can have a predetermined electrical signature equal to a resistance of400 KΩ, and resistor track 300 can have a predetermined electricalsignature equal to a resistance of 800 KΩ. The resistor tracks, such asresistor tracks 294-300, are printed in parallel to the conductive linesunderlying the play spot areas, such as play spot areas 260-266. Asexplained below, the binomial relationship of the printed resistancesfor each resistor track within a group of four resistors tracks permitsdetermination of the integrity of each play spot even though only onedetection signal is produced for all four resistor tracks.

FIG. 22 is a partial schematic circuit diagram 324 illustrating thecoupling of one column of four resistor tracks 260-266 to the excitationand detection circuitry of the electronic verification machine 108. Theparts of the circuit which are contributed by the ticket 250 include thefour resistor tracks 294-300, the conductive areas 276-284, theconductive lines 316 and 320, and the conductive areas 314 and 310. Inaddition, the ticket partial circuit includes four conductive lines326-332 which underlie the play spot areas 260-266. The play spot areas260-266 do not actually form a part of the circuit but are included inFIG. 22 for ease of understanding.

The remainder of the excitation and detection circuit is provided by theelectronic verification machine 108, including a pair of capacitorplates 334 and 336. The capacitor plates 334 and 336 can consist of, forexample, copper plates positioned within the electronic verificationmachine 108 to mirror the configuration of the conductive areas, such asconductive areas 310 and 314, on the ticket 250. When the ticket 250 iscoupled to the electronic verification machine, the excitation anddetection circuit is completed by the capacitive coupling of thecapacitor plates 334 and 336 in the electronic verification machine withthe conductive areas 314 and 318 printed on the ticket 250. Theexcitation signal is applied to the ticket 250 via one of the capacitorsformed by one of the capacitor plates, for example the capacitor 334,with the conductive area 314 printed on the ticket 250. The detectionsignal is routed to the rest of the excitation and detection circuit viathe capacitor formed by the other capacitor plate in the electronicverification machine, for example plate 338, with the conductive area310 printed on the ticket 250.

When the play spots 260-266 have not been removed or tampered with, asillustrated in FIG. 22, the excitation signal flows through the each ofthe four conductive lines 326-332. However, removing or partiallyremoving one of the play spots 260-266 effectively breaks the circuitthrough the associated conductive line rerouting the signal through theassociated resistor track. For example, if play spot 260 is removed, thesignal pathway would go through resistor track 294. Because eachresistor track 294-300 has its own unique resistance, each resistortrack 294-300 produces its own unique detection signal therebypermitting the electronic verification machine 108 to identify which, ifany of the play spot areas 260-266 have been lifted or removed.Moreover, since the resistance values of the resistor tracks 294-300 arerelated to each other as a binomial progression, the electronicverification machine 108 can also identify which of the play spots260-266 have been removed when two or more of the play spots 260-266have been removed. For example, if both play spots 260 and 262 areremoved the combination of resistor tracks 294 and 296 adds 300 KΩ tothe excitation and detection circuit. However, if play spots 260 and 264are removed, the combination of resistor tracks 294 and 298 adds 500 kΩto the excitation and detection circuit. Thus, because the resistortracks 294-300 have resistance values that are related as a binomialprogression, each possible combination of resistor tracks 294-300results in a unique total resistance which can be used to identify theplay spots 260-266 that have been removed. Table 3 lists all thepossible combinations of resistor tracks 294-300 and the resultingresistance values for the previously identified resistance values forthe resistor tracks 294-300. TABLE 3 Resistor Combinations Resistors InThe Circuit Effective Resistance R1 100 R2 200 R3 400 R4 800 R1 + R2 300R1 + R3 500 R2 + R3 600 R1 + R2 + R3 700 R1 + R4 900 R2 + R4 1000 R1 +R2 + R4 1100 R3 + R4 1200 R1 + R3 + R4 1300 R2 + R3 + R4 1400 R1 + R2 +R3 + R4 1500Additional resistance values and combinations of resistance values arepossible. For example, the resistance values in Table 3 could beincreased or decreased by an order of magnitude. The principle of thiscircuit design is that the individual resistance of each resistor trackwithin a group of resistor tracks, such as resistor tracks 294-300,should be algorithmically related to the resistances of the otherresistor tracks within the group so that every combination of resistortracks provides a unique total resistance. Preferably, the individualresistances should vary as a binomial progression.3. The Infinite Resistance Circuit.

FIGS. 23, 24, 25 and 26 illustrate another partial printed circuit whichcan be used to validate and determine the authenticity and integrity ofa document which in this example is a lottery ticket 340. As shown inFIG. 23, the lottery ticket includes play indicia 342 which are printedover the ticket substrate 344. Additional information, such as the nameof the lottery game 346 and rules 348 for playing the ticket are alsoprinted on the ticket substrate 344. FIG. 24 is a plan drawing of thescratch-off coating 350 which is printed over and conceals the playindicia 342. The scratch-off coating 350 is a removable layer of amaterial such as latex which can be relatively easily removed to revealthe play indicia 342. A single block of scratch-off coating 350 is usedto cover all of the play indicia 342. A release coat (not shown)coincident with the scratch-off coating 350 is also printed on theticket 340 between the play indicia 342 and the scratch-off coating 350.FIG. 25 is a plan drawing of the partial printed circuit which is usedto determine the integrity and authenticity of the ticket 340. Thecircuit consists of a single conductive area indicated at 352A and 352Bwhich overlies the scratch-off coating 350. The two portions 352A, 352Bof the conductive area extend beyond the edges of the scratch-offcoating 350. FIG. 26 is a plan drawing of the ticket 340 in its finalprinted state which includes overprint areas 354 that conceal thescratch-off coating 350 and the conductive area 352, as well asoverprint areas 356 that define the individual play spot areas.

When the ticket 340 is coupled to the electronic verification machine108 the portions 352A and 352B serve as capacitor plates to couple thepartial circuit printed on the ticket 340 with the excitation anddetection circuitry in the electronic verification machine 108. Theportion of the conductive track 352A-B which immediately overlies thescratch-off coating 350 but does not extend beyond the scratch-offcoating 350 serves as a resistor track when the ticket 340 is coupled toan electronic verification machine 108. If the ticket is in its originalintegral state, the portion of the conductive area 352A-B immediatelyoverlying the scratch-off layer 350 is electrically connected to theportions 352A and 352B which serve as capacitor plates. However, if anindividual has attempted to surreptitiously inspect the play indicia 342by, for example, lifting and then replacing the scratch-off layer 350,the electrical connection between the middle portion of the conductivelayer and the end portion 352A and 352B would be broken resulting in anopen circuit.

4. The Increased Resistance Circuit.

FIG. 27 illustrates an alternative embodiment of a scratch-off layer 358for the ticket 340. Unlike the previously described scratch-off layer350, the scratch-off layer 358 consists of discreet, individual areaswhich overlie each play indicia 342 (not shown). A release coat (notshown) underlies each of the discreet portions of the scratch-offcoating 358. The partial printed circuit which overlies the scratch offlayer 358 consists of a single conductive area indicated at 360A and360B which overlies all of the scratch off layer 358. Two portions 360A,360B of the conductive area 360 extend beyond the area of the ticket 340containing the scratch-off coating 358. The final printed format of theticket 240 is shown in FIG. 26 and includes overprint areas 354 thatconceal the scratch-off coating 358 and the conductive area 360A-B, aswell as overprint areas 356 that define the individual play spot areas.When the ticket 340 is coupled to an electronic verification machine108, the portions 360A and 360B of the conductive area 360 which extendbeyond area of the ticket 340 containing the scratch-off layer 358 serveas capacitor plates to couple the partial circuit printed on the ticket340 with the excitation and detection circuitry in the electronicverification machine 108. The portion of the conductive area 360A-Bwhich immediately overlies the scratch-off coating 358 but does notextend beyond the scratch-off coating 358 serves as a resistor trackwhen the ticket 340 is coupled to the electronic verification machine108. If all of the play spots are intact, the electrical signature ofthe ticket 340 will be equal to the printed resistance associated withthe portion of the conductive track 360 which overlies all of the playindicia 342. However, if an individual has attempted to surreptitiouslyinspect the play indicia 342 by, for example, lifting and then replacingone portion of the scratch-off layer 358, the small portion of theconductive area 360A-B immediately overlying the removed area of thescratch-off layer 258, will be electrically disconnected from theremainder of the conductive area 360A-B, leading to an increase in theresistance associated with the conductive area 360A-B.

FIG. 29 is a plan drawing of another partial circuit 364 which can beprinted on a lottery ticket to determine the authenticity and integrityof the play spot areas. The partial circuit, termed a waffle circuit,includes two conductive bars 366 and 368 which are electricallyconnected to a conductive area 370 overlying the play indicia (notshown). Removable scratch-off areas 372 overlie the portions of theconductive area 370 which immediately overlie the individual playindicia. A seal coat and release coats analogous to the forth layer 160and the fifth and sixth layers 162 of the ticket 50 in FIG. 11 areprinted in an appropriate configuration between the play indicia and theconductive area 370. Thus, removal of any of the scratch-off areas 372also removes a portion of the conductive area 370. When the ticket whichincludes the partial circuit 364 is coupled to the electronicverification machine 108, each of the play spot areas defined by thescratch-off areas 372 serves as a capacitor plate. In addition, theconductive bars 366 and 368 also serve as capacitor plates to couple thepartial circuit 364 to the excitation and detection circuitry of theelectronic verification machine 108. The excitation and detectioncircuitry of the electronic verification machine 108 in turn includes anarray of capacitive couplers which are positioned to mirror theconfiguration of the conductive bars 366 and 368 and the scratch-offareas 372. Thus, in contrast to the previously described partialcircuits in FIGS. 20, 21, and 23-28, the electrical signature of theplay spot areas associated with the partial circuit 364 is a conductivetrack, rather than a resistive track.

The electronic verification machine 108 can check the authenticity andintegrity of the play spot areas defined by the scratch-off areas 372 byapplying an AC excitation signal to one of the conductive bars 366 or368. If the individual play spot area being tested is intact, theexcitation signal will be routed through the portion of the conductivearea 370 underlying the scratch-off area 372 associated with the testedplay spot area. Consequently, an AC detection signal will be routed tothe capacitor plate in the electronic verification machine 108 whichmirrors the particular play spot area 372. However, if the scratch-offarea 372 being tested has been at least partially removed, theassociated removal of a portion of the conductive area 370 creates anopen circuit under that particular scratch-off area 372. Hence, no ACdetection signal is routed to the associated capacitor plate in theelectronic verification machine 108, indicating that the integrity ofthe play spot area 372 has been changed.

6. The Recursive Circuit.

FIG. 30 is another plan drawing of a partial printed circuit 376 whichcan be used to determine the authenticity and integrity of the play spotareas of a lottery ticket. The partial circuit 376 includes resistortracks (not shown) which underlie each of the removable scratch-offareas 378. Each resistor track is electrically connected to a pair ofconductive bars 380A and 380B. In the partial circuit shown in FIG. 30,there are a total of twenty-four conductive bars 380A, 380B, two forevery resistor track associated with one of the scratch-off areas 378.When the ticket which includes the partial circuit 376 is coupled to anelectronic verification machine 108, each resistor track associated witheach scratch-off area 378 is capacitively coupled to the excitation anddetection circuity of the electronic verification machine 108 by itsassociated conductive bars 380A and 380B. One conductive bar, forexample, bar 380A, is used to apply the excitation signal to theresistor track. The second conductive bar, for example bar 380B, routesthe detection signal to the rest of the excitation and detectioncircuitry in the electronic verification machine 108. If the scratch-offarea 372 being tested is intact, the electrical signature of theassociated resistor track will be substantially equal to the printedresistance of the resistor track underlying the scratch-off area 372.If, however, the scratch-off area 372 being tested has been at leastpartially removed or lifted, the measured resistance of the resistortrack and hence the resonant frequency of the completed circuitassociated with the scratch-off area 372 will be substantially differentthan the printed resistance of the resistor track.

C. Variation In Printed Resistances

1. Variations In The Printed Resistances.

A number of the foregoing circuits, such as the T-square circuit shownin FIG. 20., and the binary-weighted circuit shown in FIG. 21, use theresistance of a printed resistor track to impart an electrical signatureto a document. As noted earlier, the resistance of such printed resistortracks can be defined as follows:R=ρ(L/A)where

R=resistance;

ρ=bulk resistivity (resistance per unit volume);

L=length of resistor; and

A=cross sectional area of the resistor.

The cross-sectional area of the resistor in turn equals the product ofthe print thickness (t) and the width (W) of the resistor. Substitutingthese parameters yields the following formula for the resistance of aprinted resistor track:R=ρ(L/tW)Thus the resistance of a printed resistor track such as those used inthe previously described circuits is a function of the bulk resistivityof the ink used to print the resistor, the length of the resistor track,the thickness of the printed track and the width of the printed track.Resistor tracks having different resistances can thus be formulated byvarying any of these parameters. In practice, changing the resistivityof the inks used in order to create different resistor tracks havingdifferent resistances may be impractical because, at least in a gravureprinting process, changing inks requires using a different printingstation. The other parameters, however, can be easily and effectivelyvaried to provide different resistor tracks within one circuit whichhave different resistances. FIG. 31 is a plan drawing of four differentresistor tracks 384-390. Because the length and widths of the resistortracks 384-390 differ, the resistances of the resistor tracks 384-390will be different even if the resistor tracks 384-390 are printed withexactly the same conductive ink. Thus, for example, the resistor tracks386 and 388 would have different resistances even though the lengths ofthe resistor tracks 386 and 388 are approximately equal because thewidths of the resistor tracks 386 and 388 are not the same. Thus, theresistance of the resistor tracks printed on a document, such as theticket 50, can be varied by varying the dimensions of the printedresistor tracks.2. Variations In The Measured Resistances.

Variations in ink resistivity can also occur over the course of a largeprint run. These variations in resistivity are due to a number offactors including printing process temperature and viscosity variations.Consequently, these variations are only detectable over a large numberof tickets that were printed over a long period of time. The resistivityof the ink on a single ticket does not fluctuate in this manner.However, the resistance of a resistor track printed at the beginning ofa print run can be measurably different than the resistance of anidentical resistor track printed with the same conductive ink at the endof a print run due to these time-dependent variations in the resistivityof the conductive ink. Consequently, it is desirable that these timedependent variations in the electrical signature be compensated for whenthe electronic verification machine 108 tests the authenticity andintegrity of the document.

The electronic verification machine, such as electronic verificationmachine 108, compensates for such time-dependent variations in themeasured electrical signature in one or both of two ways: (1) byestablishing that the measured values are accurate within a specifiedrange of an expected value; or (2) by using a separate circuit elementto establish the precision of the measured electrical signature.

In the preferred embodiment, the electronic verification machinecompensates for time dependent variations in the electrical signature bydetermining that the measured values are accurate within a range of, forexample, 10 percent, of the expected electrical signature. Thus, forexample, a measured resistance that is expected to be 500Ω would beacceptable as long as the resistance was in the range between 450Ω and550Ω. In other words, if the measured resistance was within this range,the corresponding play spot is treated by the electronic verificationmachine 108 as not having been rubbed off and therefore as being in itsoriginal integral state as well as presumably authentic.

If the time dependent variations in the electrical signature arecorrected by using a precision system, the partial circuit printed onthe ticket must contain an additional element, a calibration line, whichis used to determine if a measured resistance is precise. FIG. 32 is aplan drawing of an alternative embodiment of a T-square circuit 392which includes a calibration line shown generally at 394. Thecalibration line 394, termed a John Galt line, includes a resistor track396 connected to a conductive area 398. The remaining elements of thepartial printed circuit 392 are analogous to and function in the samemanner as the T-square circuit shown in FIG. 20. Hence, the remainingelements of the circuit 392 in FIG. 32 correspond to the circuitelements shown in FIG. 20. The calibration line 394 is connected to therest of the circuit 392 via the central conductive area 100. Theresistor track 396 is printed on a portion of the ticket which does notinclude play spot areas. Consequently, the resistor track 396 shouldremain in its original integral state after the ticket has been played.When a ticket containing the calibration line 394 is coupled to theelectronic verification machine 108 the resistor track 396 is coupled tothe excitation and detection circuitry of the electronic verificationmachine 108 by the capacitors formed by coupling the conductive areas100 and 398 to capacitor plates in the electronic verification machine108.

In the partial circuit 392 shown in FIG. 32, the calibration line 394 isused to determine how far the measured resistances of a particularticket should deviate from the expected value for these resistances. Forexample, if the calibration line 394 is printed with an expectedresistance of 500Ω, but measured resistance of the calibration line 394on a particular ticket actually has a calibration value resistance of525Ω, the five percent increase over the expected value should be seenin other resistances on the card as well. Therefore, even if a measuredresistance of a play spot area is within the acceptable value of 10percent above or below the expected value, it should be approximatelyfive percent higher than the expected value in order to be precise forthis ticket. Thus, if a given resistance corresponding to one of theplay spots is eight percent below the expected value and thereforewithin plus or minus ten percent of the expected resistance, the spotwould be deemed to have been played because the resistance, althoughaccurate, is not within the calibrated precision for this ticket.

D. Protection Of The Bar Code

A circuit printed on a lottery ticket, such as the circuit 81 printed onthe ticket 50 shown in FIG. 2, can include a partial printed circuitwhich provides an electrical signature to protect the bar code 80. Asnoted with reference to FIG. 19, the bar code partial circuit includes aresistor track 107 connected to two conductive areas 150 and 104. Inaddition, the conductive area 150 immediately underlies the conductivearea 106 of the partial printed circuit 164 used to determine theauthenticity and integrity of the play spot areas, as shown in FIGS. 2and G. Hence the partial printed circuit for the bar code 80 and thepartial printed circuit 164 for the play spot areas are electricallyconnected via the overlying relationship of the conductive areas 106 and150. Consequently, when the electronic verification machine 108transmits the excitation signal to the ticket 50 via the centralconductive track 100, the excitation signal can be routed to the barcode partial circuit via the conductive areas 106 and 150. The detectionsignal from the bar code 80 is routed to the remaining excitation anddetection circuitry via the capacitor formed by the conductive area 104and a capacitor plate in the electronic verification machine 108.

The bar code 80 is in turn printed on the ticket 50 to at leastpartially overlie the bar code partial circuit. In the preferredembodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the bar code 80 is printed on theticket 50 so that it overlies the conductive area 104. Alternatively,the bar code 80 could be printed to overlie the resistor track 107. Ineither embodiment, attempts to after the bar code 80, for example bysubstituting the bar code 80 of the ticket with the bar code of adifferent ticket, would result in changes in the measured electricalsignature of the bar code 80 by changing either the resistance or thecapacitance of the bar code partial circuit.

E. Alternative Circuit Designs

In addition to resistors, other types of electrical circuit elements canbe used in a printed circuit to produce electrical circuits. Forexample, the elements used to couple a document, such as the ticket 50,to an electronic verification machine 108 are not limited to capacitorplates or areas but can also include inductive, radio frequency, andoptical frequency circuit elements. In addition, the form of theelectrical signature can be varied so that a properties other thanresistance can be used to validate or determine the authenticity andintegrity of a document. Examples of alternative electrical signaturesinclude gain, amplitude, frequency, oscillation, and thermal effects.

1. Coupling

There are a number of methods by which a circuit printed on a document,such as the circuit 81 on the ticket 50, can be coupled to theelectronic verification machine 108 including direct, capacitive,inductive, radio frequency and optical coupling methods. In directcoupling, the ticket is coupled to the electronic verification machinevia direct physical contact of one or more conductive areas on theticket with an electrical element, such as a contact plate, within theelectronic verification machine 108. Although it is relativelystraightforward to implement, direct coupling has the potentialdisadvantage of signal distortions which can arise from surfaceimperfections or impurities on the conductive areas of the ticket.

In capacitive coupling one or more conductive areas such as the areas98A-H of the ticket 50 shown in FIG. 2 form one plate of a capacitor.The other plate of the capacitor is provided by a metal plate connectedto the circuitry of the electronic verification machine 108. Asdescribed previously, the resulting capacitor can be used to form partof a verification circuit 225 as shown in the block diagram of FIG. 18.Here the conductive areas 98A-C of the ticket 50 form capacitors withthe plates 200-204 of the electronic verification machine 108.

Inductive coupling is similar in that a ticket 400 is printed with acircular conductive area 402 as illustrated in the example of FIG. 33.The electronic verification machine 108 would then include a coil 404that is inductively coupled with the circular conductive area 402 whenthe ticket 400 is inserted in the electronic verification machine 108.There are a variety of configurations that can be used including anumber of inductors printed on the ticket 400 that would be inductivelycoupled with a corresponding number of coils in the electronicverification machine 108.

Radio frequency can also be used for verification as shown in FIG. 34.In this case a planar transmission line 406 is printed on a ticket 408which is separated by the ticket substrate 410 from a ground plane 412printed on the other side of the substrate 410. With this structureradio frequency energy is transmitted and received in a transverseelectromagnetic mode. Using this approach verification signals can betransmitted to the circuits printed on the ticket 408 from suitableantennas located in the electronic verification machine 108.

In addition, optical frequency can be used for verification where forexample a photo emitter conductor or semiconductor is printed on theticket 50 and is electrically stimulated to emit light at an infraredfrequency. Photo-detectors on the electronic verification machine 108can be used to detect and classify the frequency of the light emitted bythe ticket 50 in contrast to the nominal reflective background of theticket 50.

2. Signature Verification

There are a number of methods for verifying the authenticity orintegrity as well as to determine the redemption value of a lotteryticket, such as the ticket 50, using the electronic verification machine108. One method is to merely check for an open circuit in the circuitprinted on the ticket 50. Here a signal is applied to the ticket circuitby one of the techniques described above and if no current flow isdetected then it can be assumed that a play spot 72A-H has been removedor that the ticket has been tampered with.

Gain can also be used where the electronic verification machine 108includes an operational amplifier and the circuit element printed on theticket 50 serves in its feedback loop. The gain of the operationalamplifier will reflect any changes in the ticket circuit and thus can beused to detect tampering or to determine which play spots 72A-H havebeen scratched off by the player.

The amplitude of the voltage, current or power of the AC signal flowingthrough circuit printed on the ticket 50 can additionally be measured bythe electronic verification machine 108 to indicated changes in thecircuit that would reflect alterations in the ticket 50.

The phase of a signal flowing thought the circuit printed on the ticket50 can also be checked by the electronic verification machine 108against an expected or predetermined value to determine changes in thecircuit.

Frequency of the electrical signal induced in the circuit printed on theticket can be measured by the electronic verification machine to detectchanges in the ticket. This is an especially useful approach where thecircuit on the ticket 50 includes elements such as capacitors orinductors which can affect frequency.

A measure of oscillation frequency can also be used where the circuitprinted on the ticket combined with the circuit in the electronicverification machine forms 108 an oscillator or where a completeoscillator circuit is printed on the ticket 50. Here an expectedoscillation frequency can be used to detect changes in the ticket 50.

It should be noted that other methods can be used to determine which ofthe play spots 72A-H of the probability ticket 50 have been scratchedoff. For example, an optical card reader system of the type described inU.S. Pat. Nos. 4,736,109 and 4,760,247 or a laser system of U.S. Pat.No. 5,903,340 can be used to read a security code imprinted on theoverprint areas 66 of ticket 50 to determine which of the play spotshave been rubbed off in the manner generally described in U.S. Pat. No.5,887,906. These systems can then perform the function of the sensorarrays 502 and 1036 and the related circuits of FIGS. 38 and 99respectively, as described in connection with those figures below, todetermine if the play spots 72 A-H have been rubbed off.

Thermal effects are another phenomena that can be used by the systemdescribed above to detect tampering or determine which play spots havebeen removed from a ticket 414 of the type shown in FIG. 35. In thiscase heat generated by current flowing though a set of resistors 416A-Dis detected by a group of infrared photodetectors 418A-D located in theelectronic verification machine 108. When one or more of a set of playspots 420A-D is removed current will no longer flow though itsassociated resistor and the resulting lack of infrared radiation wouldindicate that the spot(s) had been removed.

Capacitance and inductance changes in the circuits printed on the ticket50 can likewise be detected by the electronic verification machine 108indirectly from the frequency characteristics of the circuits in orderto determine whether changes have occurred on the ticket 50.

V. Stigmatization

There are cases where it is desirable to provide a positive indicationthat a document such as the lottery ticket 50 has been verified orvalidated by the electronic verification machine 108. This process istermed stigmatization. One approach as described above in Section V. isto register each ticket 50 or document in a central computer that isconnected to the electronic verification machine. Another approach is tostigmatize the ticket 50 or document itself.

Providing a hole puncher in the electronic verification machine 108 isone way to accomplish this object. In this case a hole is punched thougha critical portion of the partial printed circuit after the verificationprocess has taken place.

Printing a cancellation or void indication on the document by means of aprinter such as a dot matrix printer (not shown) located in theelectronic verifications machine 108 after verification is anotherapproach that can be used.

Fuses located in the circuits printed on the document can be used tostigmatize or void the document. Here sufficient power is applied to thedocument such as the lottery ticket 50 by the electronic verificationmachine 108 to break for example one or more of the resistors 82-94 orblow selected fuses printed on the document. It should be noted thatfuses of this nature can also be used to store specified information inthe document. For example, if an array of fuses is printed on thedocument, information can be stored on the document by having theelectronic verification machine 108 selectively bum certain fuses muchas a PROM is programmed. This technique has applications other thanlottery tickets such as an alternative to magnetic stripes on creditcards. Information burned in by blowing fuses can be far more difficultto alter than information contained in a magnetic stripe.

Coloration can also be used to stigmatize the document. In this case thedocument such as the lottery ticket 50 would also be printed withtemperature sensitive ink. Power applied to the document by theelectronic verification machine 108 would generate sufficient heat inthe circuits printed on the document to change the color of at least aportion of the document.

VII. A Second Electronic verification Machine and Verification Methods

FIGS. 38 and 39 illustrate a second embodiment of the invention, whichis a second electronic verification machine 500. The basic components ofthe electronic verification machine 500 are shown in block diagram formin FIG. 40. Included in the electronic verification machine 500 is asensor array 502 which is connected to a digital processor board 504 bya set of sensor plate lines 506 and an excitation line 508. A set oflines 510-514 provides signal inputs and outputs to a microcontroller516 which forms part of the digital processor board 504. A suitablemicrocontroller 516 is the Motorola MC68HC711E9CFN2 that includes amultiplexed 8 bit analog to digital converter (“A/D”) 517. Theelectronic verification machine 500 also includes a bar code reader 518,a stepper motor mechanism 520 and a set of three document positionsensors 522 which are connected to the digital processor board 504 by aset of lines 524-528. In the embodiment of the invention shown in FIG.38, the digital processor board 504 is connected by a RS-232C serialdigital interface 530 to a commercially available, microprocessor based,lottery retail terminal 532 that includes a random access memory 534. Aset of indicator lights 535 that in this embodiment include “power on,”“ready” and “jammed ticket” also form a part of the electronicverification machine 500.

FIG. 39 is a sectioned side view of the electronic verification machine500 which is primarily provided to illustrate a document interface andtransport mechanism, indicated generally by 536. Secured to a housing538 is an upper document guide plate 540 and a lower document guideplate 542 that combine to form a channel 544 through which a document,such as a lottery ticket, can pass. The document (not shown) is placedin the upper opening 546 of the channel and drops down in response togravity until it makes contact with a first set of pinch rollers 548 and550 that extend through an aperture 552 and an aperture 554 in guideplates 540 and 542 respectively. Also included in the electronicverification machine 500 is a second set of pinch rollers 556 and 558that extend through an aperture 560 and an aperture 562 in guide plates540 and 542 respectively; a pressure roller 564 which extends through anaperture 566 in the lower guide plate 542; a set of three document edgedetectors 568, 570 and 572 that are represented in FIG. 38 as thedocument position sensors 522; and the bar code reader 518 which ismounted in an aperture 574 of the lower guide plate 542. A mirror 575 ismounted over the aperture 574 which makes it possible for the bar codereader 518 to read bar codes on either or both sides of the document asindicated by a dashed line 577. In addition, the sensor array 502 ismounted on the upper guide plate 540 opposite the pressure rolleraperture 566. The pinch rollers 550 and 558 along with the pressureroller 564 are connected to the stepper motor 520 by a toothed belt (notshown) so that the rollers 550, 558 and 564 will all rotate at the samerate.

In operation, the document (not shown) is placed in the upper opening546 of the channel and drops down in response to gravity until it makescontact with the first set of pinch rollers 548 and 550 which arenormally not rotating. Meanwhile, the first edge detector 568 willprovide an indication to the microcontroller 516 that a document ispresent in the channel formed by the guide plates 540 and 542 causingthe stepper motor 520, in response to a first pulse rate applied to thestepper motor 520 by the microcontroller 516, to rotate at a first rate.When the document has been detected by the second edge detector 570 asemerging from the pinch rollers 550 and 548, the microcontroller 516will increase the rate of rotation of the stepper motor 520 resulting inthe document being transported by the rollers 550, 564 and 558 at a rateof approximately 8 inches per second past the sensor array 502. Thesecond edge detector 570 also provides the mircrocontroller 516 with theprecise location of the document so that the microcontroller 516 caninitiate scanning of the document. The pinch rollers 548, 550, 556 and558 are composed of a conventional elastomeric material and the pressureroller 564 is preferably composed of a closed cell polyurethane materialin order to prevent this roller from absorbing or retaining any moisturethat might be on the document. The purpose of the pressure roller 564 isto insure contact between the document and the sensor array 502. Afterpassing the sensor array 502, the document will pass the bar code reader518, which will transmit the bar code information on the document to themicrocontroller 516, and the edge detector 572 will provide anindication to the microcontroller 516 that the document has exited theelectronic verification machine 500.

It should be noted that the configuration of the electronic verificationmachine 500 shown in FIG. 39 has a number of significant advantagesincluding: a straight document path that minimizes the possibility ofpaper jams; positive control of the document by the stepper motor 520 inconjunction with the pinch rollers 550 and 558; the use of the pressureroller 564 to maintain contact of the document with the sensor array502; and the use of the edge detectors 568-572 to provide themicrocontroller 516 with information as to the location of the documentin the electronic verification machine transport mechanism 536. Inaddition, a self cleaning effect occurs because the document is inmoving contact with the sensor array 502 and further more, theelectronic verification machine 500 can readily accept documents ofvarying thickness.

FIG. 40 is a block diagram illustrating in more detail portions of thepreferred embodiment of the sensor array 502, the digital processorboard 504 and the microcontroller 516 of FIG. 38. In this embodiment ofthe invention, the sensor array includes 14 sensor plates, designated byreference numeral 574, and a rectangular excitation plate 576 mounted ona printed circuit board 578. A set of 14 operational amplifiers,designated by reference numeral 580, have their inverting inputsconnected by the lines 506 to each one of the sensor plates 574. Alsoconnected to the inverting inputs and the outputs of the operationalamplifiers 580 is a feedback line, indicated by reference numeral 582,that includes a feedback resistor Rf. The noninverting inputs of theoperational amplifiers 580 are connected to ground as shown by lines584. The outputs of each of the operational amplifiers 580 are connectedto one of two multiplexers 586 or 588 that in turn are connected by apair of lines 590 and 592 to a pair of precision rectifiers 594 and 596.The rectifiers 594 and 596 are connected to the analog to the digitalinput 517 of the microcontroller 516 via the lines 510 and 512. Controlis provided to the multiplexers 586 and 588 from the microcontroller 516by the line 514. In addition, the circuit of FIG. 40 includes a trianglewave voltage generator 598 that applies an AC excitation voltage overthe line 508 to the excitation plate 576. The voltage generator 598 canbe controlled, in this case switched on or off, by the microcontroller516 over a line 600. For illustrative purposes, FIG. 40 also includeswithin a dashed line 602 an equivalent circuit of a document under testwhere C_(t1) represents the capacitance between the excitation plate 576and the document; R_(t) represents the resistance in the documentbetween the excitation plate 576 and the first sensor plate 574; andC_(t2) represents the capacitance between the document and the firstsensor plate 574.

One of the objects of the circuit shown in FIG. 40 is to scan thedocument under test 602, such as a lottery ticket, for conductivematerial. Because the frequency and amplitude of the voltage generatedby the triangular waveform voltage generator 598 are constant, thecurrent I on the sensor plate 574 will be a square wave due to therelation I=C_(total) dv/dt where C_(total) is the combined capacitancesof C_(t1) and C_(t2). As a result the voltage drop across the feedbackresistor R_(f) will be a square wave having its amplitude proportionalto the capacitance C_(total). The preferred frequency of the voltagegenerator is between 20 KHz and 150 KHz. Thus, the voltage output onlines 582 of the operational amplifiers 580 can be used to determineboth the value of the coupling capacitance C_(total) and if there isconductive material between each of the sensor plates 574 and theexcitation plate 576. By using two multiplexers 586 and 588 and therectifiers 510 and 512, the microcontroller 516 can, in effect, samplethe current on each of the sensor plates 574, which would result fromconductive material on the document 602, thereby providing an indicationof the presence or absence of conductive material across the document602. The stepper motor 520 of the electronic verification machine 500advances the document 602 in discrete steps of approximately between0.02 inches and 0.03 inches past the sensor array 502 and themicrocontroller 516 applies the excitation signal to the excitationplate 576 for each step. In this manner the microcontroller 516 can beprogrammed to scan a predetermined portion or even the whole document602 for conductive material as well as the values of the couplingcapacitance C_(total).

Another very important capability of the circuit shown in FIG. 40, inaddition to the determination of the presence of conductive material onthe document under test, is that it can be used to determine anelectrical signature of the document. For example, the electricalsignature representing an electrical characteristic such as resistancecan be measured as is discussed in more detail in connection with thecircuits of FIGS. 18 and 41. Also, a measure of the total couplingcapacitance C_(total) can be used as an electrical signature. Asindicated above, if the voltage generator 598 generates a constantfrequency triangular wave form, the current I on the sensor plate 574will be linearly related to the capacitance C_(total) and therefore thecoupling capacitance C_(total) itself can be measured. The totalcapacitance C_(total) depends on the characteristics of the documentunder test, such as the dielectric constant K of a dielectric materialcovering the conductive material or the thickness t of the dielectricmaterial, while other factors including the size of the excitation plate576 and the sensor plates 574 remain essentially constant. As a result,the value of the current I or changes in the current I can be used tomeasure a capacitive electrical signature of the document. For example,it would be possible in some cases to use a capacitive electricalsignature to determine if a scratch-off coating covering conductivematerial on a lottery ticket has been removed.

In the embodiment of the sensor array shown in FIG. 40, the 14 sensorplates 574 are square with each side 0.10 inches in length and theexcitation plate is 0.10 inches in width. The excitation plate 576extends parallel to the linear array of sensor plates 574 and is locatedabout 0.050 inches from the sensor plates 574. Improved control ofcapacitance coupling is provided for by utilizing the pressure roller564 of FIG. 39 to maintain the document 602 in direct physical contactwith the sensor array 502. Also, to insure adequate values ofcapacitance between the document 602 and the plates 574 and 576, asrepresented by the capacitors C_(t1) and C_(t2), the metal sensor andexcitation plates 574 and 576 are coated with a material having adielectric constant greater than 5. A suitable material for this coatingis Kapton. In the event that a document interface is used where thedocument is not in contact with the sensor or excitation plates, ispreferable that an air gap of less than 0.004 inches be maintainedbetween the document and the plates. Also, in order to assure adequatevalues of sensed capacitance, it is preferable to have the rectangularexcitation plate 576 several times larger in area than the sensor plates574.

It should be noted that one of the advantages of the verification orvalidation method described above, is that the ticket or document can beprinted on a flexible substrate such as paper and because the conductivematerial can be in direct contact with the sensor array 502, it is notnecessary to apply a dielectric material over the document.

Illustrated in FIG. 41 is an alternate embodiment of a sensor circuit ofthe type shown in FIG. 18 that can be used to make measurements of theelectrical signatures, such as resistance, of conductive material ondocuments. The circuit of FIG. 41 is suitable for use with themechanical arrangement of the electronic verification machine 500 shownin FIG. 39 and is generally equivalent in function to the sensor array502 and the processor circuits 504 shown in FIGS. 38 and 40. Forpurposes of explanation, the circuit diagram of FIG. 41 includes thedocument under test equivalent circuit 602 which has been described inconnection with FIG. 40 and the equivalent elements from FIGS. 18, 38and 40 carry the same reference numbers. As with the circuit of FIG. 18,an inductor 604, for example having an inductance of 100 mH, isconnected to each of a set of 5 sensor plates 606 in order tocompensate, in phase, for the reactance resulting from the capacitancebetween the document 602 and the sensor plates 606 and a correspondingset of excitation plates 608. The microcontroller 516 can be programmedto perform the same frequency sweeping functions as the mircrocontroller224 described in connection with FIG. 18 and the processor circuits 504can contain functional elements equivalent to the integrator (peakdetector) 238, the D/A converter 240 and the VCO 242. Included in thiscircuit is a set of 5 excitation plates 608. Although not shown in theschematic diagram of FIG. 41, the excitation plates 608 can be locatedbetween and aligned in a linear array with the sensor plates 606.Although a single excitation plate 576 of the type shown in FIG. 40 canbe used instead of the separate excitation plates 608, the use ofseparate excitation plates 608 in this embodiment of the invention hasthe advantage of reducing distributed capacitances. Connected to each ofthe excitation plates 608 by a line 609 is a triangular wave voltagecontrolled oscillator (VCO) 610 in order to apply a triangularly shaped,AC excitation voltage or signal to the document under test. However, itshould be noted that optimal performance of a resonant circuit can beachieved with a sinusoidal wave form instead of the triangular wavevoltage generated by the generally less expensive VCO 610. Also includedin this circuit is a set of 5 operational amplifiers 612 connected in avoltage follower arrangement with the sensor plates 606. Specifically,the noninverting inputs of each of the operational amplifiers 612 areconnected, in this case, through the inductors 604 to the sensor plates606 and to a resistor 614 that in turn is connected to ground. As aresult, the output of each of the operational amplifiers 612, on a setof lines 616 which are also connected to the inverting input of theoperational amplifiers 612, will be a voltage that represents thecurrent flow through the resistor or resistance R_(t) of the document602 resulting from the excitation signal on line 609.

As indicated above, the circuit of FIG. 41 can use a control circuit618, which can include a microcontroller such as the microcontroller516, to perform an iterative resonance seeking algorithm to vary thefrequency of the VCO 610 until the resonance of the LC circuit includingthe inductor 604 and the capacitance between plates 606 and 608 isfound. The resulting voltage on lines 616, which can be multiplexed,peak-detected and applied to the analog to digital input 517 of themicrocontroller 516 in a manner similar to that shown in FIG. 40,represents the value of the resistance of a conductive material on adocument. In this way it is possible to determine the electricalsignature, for example the value of resistance, of conductive materiallocated in a predetermined position on a document. Since it is possibleto make accurate measurements of electrical signatures using the circuitof FIG. 41, this approach can be particularly useful for thosedocuments, such as a lottery probability ticket of the type shown at 50in FIG. 1, where particular accuracy may be important. Also, once thecontrol circuit 618 has determined the resonance frequency, it can use astandard resonance frequency equation, such as C=25,330/f²L, todetermine the coupling capacitance to the document since the inductanceof the inductor 604 is known.

Another embodiment of a sensor array is illustrated in FIG. 42 where adocument 620, such as a lottery ticket, is inserted between an upperarray of sensor plates 622 and a lower array of excitation plates 624.This arrangement has the advantage of reducing the sensitivity of thesystem to displacement of the document 620 in a direction perpendicularto the plane of the document 620.

As illustrated in FIGS. 43-45, one of the advantages of the systemsshown in FIGS. 38-40 is that it is possible to determine the location aswell as the shape of conductive material on a document. As an example ofhow shapes on a document can be determined, a conventional instantlottery ticket 626 having a scratch-off coating 628, shown partiallybroken away, covering a set of play indicia 630 is illustrated in FIG.43. In this case the scratch-off coating includes a conductive materialand one object of the system in this example is to determine whatportion of the scratch-off coating has been removed as part of a ticketvalidating process. Contained in the terminal memory 534, shown in FIG.38, is a game signature map 632 in which a bit map or digitalrepresentation of the shape of the scratch-off coating 628 of the ticket626 is stored. As previously described in connection with FIGS. 38-40,the electronic verification machine 500 scans the ticket 626 forconductive material and the microcontroller 616 then transmits a digitalrepresentation of the location of the conductive material detected onthe ticket 626 to a scanned data map contained in the memory 534. Atthis point a microprocessor (not shown) in the lottery terminal 532 cancompare the contents of the scanned data map 634 to the game signaturemap and if the data in the scanned data map meets certain predeterminedcriteria such as location, shape or percentage of expected removal ofthe scratch-off coating 628, then a comparison signal is generatedindicating that the ticket 626 has passed a verification or validationtest. One method for representing verification criteria is by a vector.In the case of the ticket 626, such a vector might have several bytesrepresenting the starting address and the ending address of the gamesignature map 632 corresponding to where the scratch-off coating 628 canbe expected along with another byte having a value that represents theminimum percentage of the scratch-off coating that constitutes anacceptably played ticket. As a practical matter, players often onlyscratch off a portion of the lottery ticket's scratch-off coating, sothat, for example, an acceptable percentage for a particular type ofplayed ticket might be 30%. Use of vectors of this type makes itespecially easy to reprogram the terminal 532 for different types oflottery tickets or documents.

Another method of verifying a document such as a lottery ticket of thescratch-off type 626 is to utilize the capacitive signature of theticket 626 as measured by the electronic verification machine 500.Taking, for example, the ticket 626 which can include a uniformconductive material (not shown) applied beneath the scratch-off coating628 and that is removable with the coating 628 of the type as describedin U.S. Pat. No. 5,346,258, a measure of the signal to noise ratiobetween areas of the ticket 626 having the scratch-off coating 628 andthe areas that do not, can provide a strong indication of validity. Thismethod starts by determining a value for the coupling capacitanceC_(total) for each location on the ticket 626 by measuring the current Ion the sensor plates 574 using the circuit of FIG. 40. Then by takingthe mean average T_(s) of the value of the coupling capacitance of theareas of the ticket 626 having the scratch-off coating 628 along withthe mean average T_(p) of the other areas and dividing T_(s) by T_(p), asignal to noise ratio can be obtained. Here, T_(s) represents the signaland T_(p) represents the noise. Preferably, the value of T_(s) iscalculated from only those coupling capacitance values that exceed apredetermined value such as 11 out of a maximum sensed value of 36.Computing this signal to noise ratio for an entire document such as theticket 626 can provide an excellent indication of the validity of thedocument. It has been found, for instance, that lottery tickets of thetype 626 will consistently produce signal to noise ratios of between 3.6and 4.9.

One of the reasons that the above described signal to noise ratios canprovide such an excellent indication of validity is that it measures aninherent electrical signature of a document that can be very difficultto forge. In the example above, the measured coupling capacitanceC_(total) of the scratch-off areas 628 of the ticket 626 are a functionof two independent factors: the thickness t and the dielectric constantK of the scratch-off coating 628. Because C_(total) is equal toKε_(o)A/t where ε_(o) is the permittivity of free space and A is thearea of the capacitor plate 574, a forger would have to almost exactlymatch both the thickness t and the dielectric constant K of thescratch-off coating.

In addition to lottery tickets, the scanning method as described abovecan be useful in the verification of a wide variety of documents. Forinstance, currency bills can be printed with conductive fibers orconductive inks located in predetermined locations. The electronicverification machine 500 can then be used to verify the authenticity ofthe bills by determining electrical signatures as well as the locationor the amount of conductive material in the bills. Since the electronicverification machine 500 of FIGS. 38-40 can operate at relatively highspeed, 8 to 10 inches per second, the verification of documents can beaccomplished quickly and inexpensively.

Another application for the electronic verification machine 500 is inthe validation of a pull-tab type lottery ticket 636 as shown in FIG.46. The pull-tab ticket 636 is made up of a substrate 638 upon whichplay indicia, indicated by 640, are printed. Laminated over thesubstrate 638 is a pull-tab stock member 642 having a number ofperforated pull-tabs 644 located such that they cover the play indicia640. The underside or laminate surface of the pull-tab member 642 isprinted with a layer of conductive ink, as indicated by referencenumeral 646, which forms a conductive plane and is not obvious to aplayer. In this type of ticket 636, the conductive plane formed by theconductive ink layer 646 will be interrupted when a player removes oneor more of the pull-tabs 644.

Referring to FIG. 47, a pull-tab signature map 648 is graphicallyrepresented along side the pull-tab ticket 636, with pull-tabs 644 shownas removed. As shown in this figure, the “0” bits in the signature map648 correspond to positions of the pull-tab 644 on the ticket 638. Theremaining bits in the signature map 648 are set to “1.” As a result, thesignature map 648 provides a digital representation of the location ofthe pull-tabs 644 along the center line of the pull-tab ticket 636. Thesignature map 644 can be stored in the memory 534 of the lotteryterminal 532 or in the case where a simplified version of the type ofelectronic verification machine 500 of FIG. 38 is to be used, thesignature map 644 can be stored in the microcontroller memory 516 or itsequivalent.

A simplified sensor array 650, which can be used in the electronicverification machine 500 to validate the pull-tab ticket 636, is shownin FIG. 48 as positioned over the pull-tab ticket 636. The sensor array650 includes a sensor plate 652 located between a pair of excitationplates 654 and 656 such that the sensor plate 652 is aligned with thecenter line of the pull-tab ticket 636. The circuits (not shown)connected to the sensor and excitation plates 652 and 654 aresubstantially the same and operate in the same manner as the circuits inFIG. 40. In validating the pull-tab ticket 636, the ticket 636 isscanned along its center line, in the direction indicated by an arrow656, by the sensor plate 652 and its associated circuity in theelectronic verification machine 500. If, for example, the output ofsensor plate 652 is equivalent all “0”s, then the ticket 636 does notcontain conductive ink and, as such, can be considered a forgery,perhaps a photocopy. Then by comparing the sensor plate 652 output tothe signature map 644 it is possible to determine how many, if any, ofthe pull-tabs 644 have been opened.

VII. A Second Probability Game Ticket Configuration.

FIGS. 49-50 and 52-64 show a second embodiment of a probability gameticket 700, which is the preferred embodiment to be used in conjunctionwith the sensor array 502 of the electronic verification machine 500,shown in FIGS. 38-40. FIG. 49 presents the finished appearance of theticket 700. The ticket 700 is printed on a substrate 702, such as cardstock or paper, and has three portions: a display graphics portion,shown generally at 704, a play field portion, shown generally at 706,and a ticket identification portion, shown generally at 708. As with theprevious ticket 50, the display graphics portion 704 includes a varietyof printed information such as the name 710 of the game, rules 712 forplaying the game, and customized art work 714. The play field portion706 includes a group of play spot areas 716A-H which are printed asoverprint layers. The play field portion 706 can also include play spotgraphics 718 which help to further visually delineate each play spotarea 716A-H. Each play spot area 716A-H conceals a play indicia 720A-H(shown in FIG. 61). For example, play spot area 716A has been removed toreveal the underlying play indicia 720A. The ticket identificationportion 708 includes a void-if-removed area 722 which is printed as anoverprint layer. The void-if-removed area 722 can include overprintgraphics 724. The void-if-removed area 722 conceals a validation number726 (shown in FIG. 61) which contains information that can be used invalidating the ticket 700. The ticket identification portion 708 alsoincludes an inventory control number 728 and a machine-readable bar code730. Similar to the bar code 80 of the first ticket 50, the bar code 730can include information related to the validation number 726 (shown inFIG. 61), to the pack and ticket numbers for the ticket 700 and to theredemption values of the play indicia 720A-H. The bar code 730 thusserves as a ticket identification indicia for the ticket 700.

FIG. 50 is a plan view of various circuit elements which are used indetermining the authenticity and integrity of the ticket 700. The ticket700 includes two general types of circuit elements which are used inassociation with the play indicia 720A-H and with the bar code 730. Thefirst type of circuit element consists of individual indicia circuitelements 732A-H which are used to determine the presence of the playindicia 720A-H as well as the integrity of each of the underlying playindicia 720A-H. Each of the indicia circuits 732A-H includes a firstcapacitive pick-up area, generally denoted as 734, a second capacitivepick-up area, generally denoted as 736, and a resistive element,generally denoted as 738, that is connected to and extends between thefirst and second capacitive pick-up areas 734 and 736. Thus, forexample, the indicia circuit element 732A includes the first capacitivepick-up area 734A, the second capacitive pick-up area 736A and theresistive element 738A. Similarly, the indicia circuit element 732Bincludes the first capacitive pick-up area 734B, the second capacitivepick-up area 736B, and the resistive element 738B. The resistiveelements 738A-H are printed in a serpentine pattern so as to cover mostof the play indicia 720A-H. As explained in more detail with referenceto FIGS. 69-70, each of the indicia circuit elements 732A-H isassociated with one of the underlying play indicia 720A-H. Thus, forexample, the indicia circuit element 732A is associated with the playindicia 720A, shown in FIG. 49. The individual indicia circuit elements732A-H are printed on the ticket 700 so that at least a portion of eachindicia circuit 732A-H overlies one of the individual play indicia720A-H. In the preferred embodiment, the resistive element 738 of theindicia circuit elements 732 are printed on the ticket 700 to overlieone of the play indicia 720. Moreover, in the preferred embodiment thecapacitive pick-up areas 734 and 736 of the indicia circuit elements 732are printed on the ticket 700 so that the capacitive pick-up areas 734and 736 do not overlie any of the play indicia 720. Thus, for example,the resistive element 738A of the indicia circuit element 732A isprinted in the ticket 700 to overlie the play indicia 720A and while thecapacitive pick-up areas 734A and 736A of the indicia circuit element732A are printed on the ticket 700 so that the capacitive pick-up areas734A and 736A are spaced-apart from the play indicia 720A and do notoverlie the play indicia 720A or any of the other play indicia 720B-H.

The individual indicia circuit elements 732A-H capacitively couple withthe sensor array 502 of the electronic verification machine 500 when theticket 700 is placed in the opening 546 of the electronic verificationmachine 500 and is moved through the electronic verification machine bythe stepper motor 520, the pinch rollers 548, 550, 556, 558, and thepressure roller 564, as described with reference to FIGS. 38-40.Specifically, the first capacitive pick-up areas 734A-H capacitivelycouple with the sensor plates 574 of the sensor array 502 and thereforeserve as sensor capacitive pick-up areas for the indicia circuitelements 732A-H. In addition, and the second capacitive pick-up areas736A-H capacitively couple with the excitation plate 576 of the sensorarray 502 and therefore serve as excitation capacitive pick-up areas forthe indicia circuit elements 732A-H. Consequently, the dimensions andpositions of the capacitive pick-up areas 734A-H and 736A-H aredetermined by the dimensions and positions of the excitation plate 576and the sensor plates 574 of the sensor array 502. In the preferredembodiment, the width of both the first and second capacitive pick-upareas 734A-H and 736A-H is on the order of 0.26 inches, the height ofthe first capacitive pick-up areas 734A-H is about 0.05 inches, and theheight of the second capacitive pick-up areas 736A-H is on the order of0.10 inches. In addition, the first capacitive pick-up areas 734A-H arelongitudinally spaced-apart from the second capacitive pick-up areas736A-H by a predetermined distance which, in the preferred embodiment isabout 0.07 inches. Moreover, each of the individual indicia circuitelements, for example, indicia circuit element 734B, is longitudinallyspaced apart from adjacent indicia circuit elements, for example,indicia circuit elements 732A and 732C, by a predetermined distance. Theconfiguration of the indicia circuit elements 732A-H offer severaladvantages. First, the individual indicia circuit elements 732A-Hprovide discreet electrical signatures for each of the play spot areas716A-H and associated underlying play indicia 720A-H. Consequently, theindicia circuit elements 732A-H can be used to determine the presence aswell as the integrity of the individual play spot areas 716A-H and theassociated underlying play indicia 720A-H. In addition, each of theindicia circuit elements 732A-H is spatially isolated from other circuitelements. Consequently, stray electrical noise is minimized oreliminated.

As explained in more detail below, portions of the indicia circuitelements 732A-H are removed when the play spot areas 716A-H are removedto reveal the play indicia 720A-H. Consequently, the ink used to printthe indicia circuit elements 732A-H should have a reduced adhesivenessso that the portions of the indicia circuit elements 732A-H are readilyremoved from the ticket 700. In addition, the ink used to print theindicia circuit elements 732A-H should also be fairly conductive. In thepresently preferred embodiment of the invention, the sheet resistivityof the ink used to print the indicia circuit elements 732A-732H is onthe order of 2 KΩ/□. Table 4 describes the presently preferredformulation for the ink used print the indicia circuit elements732A-732H. TABLE 4 Ink Formulation For The Indicia Circuit Elements732A-732H Material wt % Polyamide resin 1.75 Dimethylethanol amine 0.25Ammonium Hydroxide 0.25 Conductive Carbon Black 13.00 Polyethylene/PTFEwax 1.50 Silicone paste 1.25 Acrylic synthetic pigment 4.00 Colloidalacrylic 9.00 Ethyl Alcohol 2.00 Styrenated acrylic emulsion (high 8.25T_(g)) Styrenated acrylic emulsion (low 16.45 T_(g)) Silicone-basedsurfactant 0.50 Water 41.80

An alternative ink formulation for the ink used to print the indiciacircuit elements 732A-732H is given in Table 5. This ink has a lowersheet resistivity than that of the ink described in Table 4, on theorder of about 1 KΩ/□. TABLE 5 Alternative Ink Formulation For TheIndicia Circuit Elements 732A-H material wt % water 41.8 Dispersant(W-22) 4.8 Dimethylethanolamine 0.25 Defoamer (RS-576) 0.4 Carbon Black15 wetting agent (BYK 348) 0.5 EVCL Emulsion Vancryl 600 3 AmmoniumHydroxide 0.25 DC-24 Silicone Emulsion 2 Styrenated Acrylic Varnish(J678) 5 Plasticizer 141 2 Styrenated Acrylic Emulsion 7830 20 Ethanol 5

The second general type of circuit element is an integrity circuitelement 740 that is used to determine the authenticity and integrity ofthe ticket identification indicia, such as the bar code 730. Theintegrity circuit element 740 includes a first capacitive pick-up area742 that is shaped and sized to capacitively couple with one of thesensor plates 574 of the sensor array 502. The integrity circuit element740 also includes a second capacitive pick-up area 744 that is shapedand positioned to capacitively couple with the excitation plate 576 ofthe sensor array 502. Both the first and second capacitive pick-up areas742 and 744 are printed entirely within the ticket identificationportion 708 of the ticket 700 and, as explained in more detail below,underlie at least a portion of the ticket identification indicia, suchas the bar code 730. The ticket integrity circuit 740 also includes aresistive element 746 that is connected to and extends between the firstand second capacitive pick-up areas 742 and 744. The resistive element746 is printed on the ticket 700 so that a portion 748 of the resistiveelement 746 is located within the play field portion 706 of the ticket700 and is shown as encompassing indicia circuit elements 732D and 732H.The integrity circuit element 740 provides a discreet electricalsignature for the ticket identification indicia, such as the bar code730, and thus can be used to determine the authenticity and integrity ofthe ticket identification indicia. For example, if an attempt is made toreplace the bar code 730 by cutting the ticket 700, the resistiveelement 746 would also be cut and thus detectable by the electronicverification machine 500.

The ticket 700 can include additional data circuits, generally denotedas 750, which can be used to provide additional ticket authenticity andintegrity information. The data circuits 750 include first capacitivepick-up areas 752 and second capacitive pick-up areas 754 that arepositioned and shaped to capacitively couple with one of the sensorplates 574 and with the excitation plate 576, respectively, of thesensor array 502. The data circuits 750 also include data tracks 756that spans between the capacitive pick-up areas 752 and 754. The datatracks 756 are used to electrically store data in a binary form. Forexample, when the data tracks 756 include a conductive material the datatracks can encode a bit-on or “1” signal. Alternatively, when the datatracks 756 do not include a conductive material the data tracks 756 canencode a bit-off or “0” signal. As shown in FIG. 50, the ticket 700preferably includes at least two data circuits, 750A and 750B, both ofwhich are printed within the ticket identification portion 708. Byincluding two data circuits 750A and 750B, the ticket can store fourseparate binary codes, e.g., 11, 10, 01, and 00. As shown in FIG. 50,the data track 756A of the data circuit 750A does not include aconductive material and so encodes a bit-off or “0” signal while thedata track 756B of the data circuit 750B includes conductive materialand so encodes a bit-on or “1” signal. The binary code produced by thedata circuits 750A and 750B, when used in conjunction with additionalinformation stored elsewhere on the ticket 700, for example, in thevalidation number 726, can provide at least partial ticket authenticityand integrity information. The ink used to print the integrity circuitelement 740 and the data circuit elements 750A-B should be fairlyconductive. Table 11, in Section XII.B. (below) describes the presentlypreferred formulation for the ink used to print the integrity circuitelements 740. The ink described in Table 11 has a sheet resistivity ofless than 5 KΩ/□. Table 1 presents an alternative ink formulation forprinting the integrity circuit elements. The ink described in Table 1has sheet resistivity of about 3 MΩ/□.

It should be noted that the two general types of circuit elements, theindicia circuit elements 732A-H and the integrity circuit element 740,are actually printed on the ticket 700 as separate layers. In addition,the ticket 700 includes several other layers that are used to generatethe finished form of the ticket 700 shown in FIG. 49. FIGS. 51-72illustrate the sequence and configurations of the layers which formparts of the ticket 700. The ticket 700 is preferably printed by anintaglio method. A gravure printing method is especially preferred as itallows for the widest range of ink and coating formulations, althoughother intaglio printing methods can be used. The ticket 700 can also beprinted by screen printing, relief printing, planographic printing,letterpress, and flexographic printing. However, as noted a gravureprinting process is preferred for printing the ticket 700. FIG. 51presents a schematic diagram of a gravure printing press 760 which issuitable for printing the ticket 700. The press 760 has fifteen printingstations 762-790, each of which prints one layer on the ticket 700, andone ink jet printer 792 that prints the play indicia 720A-H, thevalidation number 726, the inventory control number 728, and the barcode 730. The first print station 762 prints a first layer 794 on theticket 700. The first layer 794 is an opaque blocking layer that helpsto protect the play indica 720A-H and the circuit elements 732A-H, 740,750A, and 750B, from surreptitious detection by candling.

In order that the circuit elements such as 732A-H, 740, 750A or 750B canbe detected, the first opaque blocking layer 794, as well as any otherlayer on the ticket, should be relatively non-conductive as compared tothe conductivity of the circuit elements 732A-H, 740, 750A or 750B.Otherwise, the layer 794 would tend to interfere with the detection ofthe electrical signatures of the circuit elements 732A-H, 740, 750A or750B. This is especially the case with the capacitive pick-up areas suchas 734A-H and 736A-H and in particular with respect to the capacitivepick-up areas 734A-H that serve in this embodiment as sensor capacitivepick-up areas. It has been found that a relatively conductive layerunder the capacitive pick-up area 734 can result in a noise spike,making it difficult for the electronic verification machine 500 toaccurately the presence or signature of the resistive element 738.Although it is possible to detect the presence of the resistive elements738A-H and 746 using an electronic verification machine of the typeshown at 500 where the conductivity of the circuit elements such as732A-H, 740, 750A and 750B is only twice the conductivity of an adjacentlayer such as the lower blocking layer 794, it is desirable that thedifference in conductivity be at least one order of magnitude or 10 dBand more preferably, two to three orders of magnitude or 20 to 30 dB.Therefore, it is considered preferable that, in order to reduce thesignal to noise ratio in scanning the circuit elements such as 732A-H,740, 750A and 750B, that the layer 794 appear to be substantiallynonconductive in comparison to the circuit elements 732A-H, 740, 750Aand 750B. By increasing the difference in conductivity between thecircuit elements such as 732A-H, 740, 750A and 750B and the layer 794 itis possible to reduce the manufacturing tolerances of both theelectronic verification machine 500 and the ticket 700. Thisconsideration is significant when documents and verification machinesare being produce in large volumes. In particular where the lotterytickets 700 are printed in the millions and are subject to various typesof abuse such as bending and crumpling, the difference in conductivitybetween the circuit elements 732A-H, 740, 750A and 750B and the layer794 is preferably three orders of magnitude or 30 dB. Thus, in thepreferred embodiments of the electronic verification machine 500 and theticket 700, where the blocking layer 794 is a continuous layerunderlying all of the circuit elements 732A-H, 740, 750A and 750B, thedesired relationship between the sheet resistivity (ρs_((LBL))) of thelower blocking layer 794 and the sheet resistivity (ρs_((CE))) of thecircuit elements 732A-H, 740, 750A, and 750B is at least two orders ofmagnitude as illustrated by the equation:ρs _((LBL))≧1000 ρs _((CE))

FIG. 52 illustrates the preferred embodiment of the lower blocking layer794 when the lower blocking layer 794 has a sheet resistivity that is atleast one thousand times greater than the sheet resistivities of thecircuit elements 732A-H, 740, 750A, and 750B. In this embodiment, thelower blocking layer 794 is printed as a continuous, substantiallyopaque layer 796 that completely overlies the play field portion 706 andthe ticket identification portion 708 of the ticket 700. The lowerblocking layer 794 can, however, be printed with materials that have alesser difference in conductivity relative to the circuit elements732A-H, 740, 750A, and 750B as long as the configuration of the lowerblocking layer 794 electrically isolates at least portions of thecircuit elements 732A-H, 740, 750A, and 750B from the lower blockinglayer 794. Table 10 (below) describes another formulation for an inkused to print the lower blocking layer 794. The ink described in Table10 has a sheet resistivity which is greater than about 20 MΩ/□. Analternative formulation for the ink used to print the lower blockinglayer 794 is given in Table 6. The formulation in Table 6 isparticularly useful for printing the lower blocking layer 794 either asthe barred layer 798 or as the patterned layer 808. TABLE 6 InkFormulation For The Lower Blocking Layer 794 Material wt % PredesolCarbon Black 1649V 25 (KVK USA, Inc.) VCMA 10 methyl-ethyl ketone 65

It should be noted that since one of the functions of the lower blockinglayer 794 is to obscure the play indicia 720A-H and the circuit elements732A-H, 740, and 750A-B, it is desirable that the blocking layer 794 bea opaque as possible. One way to achieving a sufficiently opaque layeris to use inks that contain black pigments or other dark pigments inorder to mask the circuit elements circuit elements 732A-H, 740, and750A-B. Thus, it is convenient to use carbon or carbon black in the inkused for the layer 794. Using carbon black normally will result in anink with a sheet resistivity less than would be the case with abasically non-conductive material such as the paper substrate 702.However, the ink formulation presented in Table 6 above does provide arelatively high sheet resistivity which, in this case, is greater than20 MΩ/□. Thus, as noted above, this ink formulation is suitable forprinting the lower blocking layer 794 provided at least portions of thecircuit elements 732A-H, 740, 750A, and 750B are electrically isolatedfrom the layer 794, for example, by printing the lower blocking layer794 as the barred layer 798 having spaced-apart strips 800A-B or byprinting the lower blocking layer 794 as the patterned layer 808 havingthe apertures 810A-H, 812, 814A, and 814B.

The second printing press station 764 prints the second layer 826 whichconsists of the ticket integrity circuit 740 and the data circuits750A-B. The appearance of the ticket 700 at this point depends on theform of the lower blocking layer 794. FIG. 53 shows the ticket 700 whenthe lower blocking layer 794 is printed as the continuous, substantiallynon-conductive layer 796. Both of the data circuits 750A and 750B areprinted over the first layer 796 within the ticket identificationportion 708 of the ticket 700. The first capacitive pick-up area 742 andthe second capacitive pick-up area 744 of the integrity circuit element740 are also printed within the ticket identification portion 708 overthe layer 796. The resistive element 746, which is connected to andextends between the capacitive pick-up areas 742 and 744 of theintegrity circuit element 740, is printed on the layer 796 so that theportion 748 of the resistive element 746 is located within the playfield portion 706 of the ticket 700.

The third printing press station 766 prints the third layer 818 (shownin FIG. 54) which is a masking layer that masks the lower blocking layer794 and prevents visual interference from the lower blocking layer 794when a user inspects the play indicia 720A-H (shown in FIG. 61). Asshown in FIG. 58 the masking layer 818 is printed as a continuous layerthat covers both the play field portion 706 and the ticketidentification portion 708 of the ticket 700. In order not to interferewith the electrical signatures of the circuit elements 732A-H, 740,750A, and 750B, the electrical conductivity of the masking layer 818should be significantly less than the electrical conductivity of thecircuit elements 732A-H, 740, 750A, and 750B. In the preferredembodiment, the sheet resistivity of the masking layer 818 is greaterthan 10⁸ Ω/□. A suitable formulation for the masking layer 818 is givenin Table 7. TABLE 7 Ink Formulation For The Masking Layer 818 materialwt % Predasol rutile white 1300-PA 33.33 versamide 940 resin 22.22ethanol 22.225 heptane 22.225

The fourth printing station 768 prints the fourth layer 820 which is aprimer layer that provides a suitable surface for printing the playindicia 720A-H (shown in FIG. 61). As shown in FIG. 55, the primer layer820 is printed as a continuous layer that covers both the play fieldportion 706 and the ticket integrity portion 798 of the ticket 700. Inorder not to interfere with the electrical signatures of the circuitelements 732A-H, 740, 750A, and 750B, the electrical conductivity of theprimer layer 820 should be significantly less than the electricalconductivity of the circuit elements 732A-H, 740, 750A, and 750B. In thepreferred embodiment, the sheet resistivity of the primer layer 820 isgreater than 10⁸ QΩ/□. Printing stations 770-774 provide the featuresprinted in the display portion 704 of the ticket 700 which, as shown inFIG. 56, include the name of the game 710, the rules for playing thegame 712, and the customized art work 714. The ink jet station 792prints the play indicia 720A-H, the validation number 726, the inventorycontrol number 728 and the bar code 730. As shown in FIG. 57 the playindicia 720A-H are printed directly on the primer layer 820 within theplay field portion 706 of the ticket 700. The validation number 726, theinventory control number 728 and the bar code 730 are also printeddirectly on the primer layer 820 but are located within the ticketidentification portion 708 of the ticket. Station 776 prints the back822 of the ticket 700 which, as shown in FIG. 58, can include additionalinformation 824 concerning the game.

Station 778 prints the fifth layer 826 which is a seal coat layer thatprotects the play indicia 720A-H and the validation number 726 againstabrasion. FIG. 59 illustrates the seal coat layer 826 which is printedon the ticket 700 so that the layer 826 covers all of the primer layer820 within the play field portion 706 and so that the seal coat layer826 covers the validation number 726 within the ticket identificationportion 708 of the ticket. In order not to interfere with the electricalsignatures of the circuit elements 732A-H, 740, 750A, and 750B, theelectrical conductivity of the seal coat layer 826 should besignificantly less that the electrical conductivity of the circuitelements 732A-H, 740, 750A, and 750B. In the preferred embodiment, thesheet resistivity of the seal coat layer 826 is greater than 10⁸ Ω/□. Asuitable formulation for the seal coat layer 826 is given in Walton,U.S. Pat. No. 4,726,608.

The next layer is a release coat layer, generally denoted as 828, thatis printed by the station 780. The release coat layer 828 is notcontinuous but instead in this embodiment consists of discreet layerportions 828A-828H that are associated with the play indicia 720A and adiscrete layer portion 828I that is associated with the validationnumber 726. Thus, as shown in FIG. 60, the release coat layer 828 isprinted on the seal coat layer 826 so that the release coat layerportion 828A covers the play indicia 720A. Similarly, the release coatlayer portion 828C covers the play indicia 720C and the release coatlayer portion 828F covers the play indicia 720F. In addition, therelease coat layer portion 828I covers the validation number 726. Therelease coat 828 serves two general functions. First, the release coat828 assures that layers which overlie the play indicia 720A-H and thevalidation number 726 can be removed to reveal the play indicia 720A-Hand the validation number 726. In addition, as explained with referenceto FIG. 67, the discrete release coat portions 828A-H help to ensurethat the electrical signatures of the indicia circuit elements 732A-Hchange when the layers overlying the play indicia 720A-H are removed toreveal the play indicia 720A-H. In order not to interfere with theelectrical signatures of the circuit elements 732A-H, 740, 750A, and750B, the electrical characteristics of the release coat layer 828should be significantly less than the electrical conductivity of thecircuit elements 732A-H, 740, 750A, and 750B. In the preferredembodiment, the sheet resistivity of the release coat layer 828 isgreater than 10⁸ Ω/□. However, since the release coat layer 828 does notcontact any of the capacitive pick-up areas 734A-H. 736A-H, 742A-H,744A-H, 752A-B, and 754A-B, a lesser sheet resistivity, for exampleabout 10⁷ Ω/□, would be acceptable. A suitable formulation for therelease coat layer 828 is given in Walton, U.S. Pat. No. 4,726,608.

Station 782 prints the next layer which is an opaque upper blockinglayer 830 that helps to protect the play indicia 720A-H, the validationsnumber 726 and portions of the circuit elements 732A-H, 740, 750A, and750B against surreptitious detection by candling. The preferredembodiment of the upper blocking layer 830 has a sheet resistivity thatis at least about 1000 times greater than the sheet resistivity of thecircuit elements 732A-H, 740, 750A, and 750B. Consequently, in thepreferred embodiment the upper blocking layer 830 does not interferewith the electrical signatures of the circuit elements 732A-H, 740,750A, and 750B and there is no need to electrically isolate the circuitelements 732A-H, 740, 750A, and 750B from the upper blocking layer 830.Thus, shown in FIG. 65, in the preferred embodiment the upper blockinglayer 830 is printed as a continuous layer 832 that overlies the playfield portion 706 of the ticket 700 and overlies the validation number726 within the ticket integrity portion of the ticket 700. The playindicia 720A and the associated release coat portion 828A are shown inphantom for reference. A presently preferred formulation for the inkused to print the upper blocking layer 830 is given in Table 8. The inkformulation described in Table 8 has a sheet resistivity greater than 1GΩ/□. TABLE 8 Ink Formulation For The Upper Blocking Layer 830 Materialwt % non-conductive carbon black dispersion (35% 23.71 carbon) Normalpropyl acetate 21.85 Heptane 25.94 Rubber block copolymer 6.25 Calciumcarbonate 8.00 Maleic rosin ester resin 1.50 Titanium dioxide 7.00Silicone paste 1.50 Diacetone alcohol 0.50 Terpene phenolic resin 0.75PE/PTFE wax blend 3.00

The upper blocking layer 830 can also be printed with materials thathave a lesser difference in conductivity relative to the circuitelements 732A-H, 740, 750A, and 750B as long as the configuration of thelayer 830 electrically isolates at least portions of the indicia circuitelements 732A-H. Another suitable ink for the upper blocking layer 830is given in Table 9. TABLE 9 Ink Formulation For The Upper BlockingLayer 830 material wt % Heptane 34.1 Normal Propyl Acetate 30 RosinEster Resin 3330 10.2 Silicone Dispersant BYK 163 0.7 Carbon Black 35013 Rubber Copolymer D 1107 9.2 Calcium Carbonate 1.7 Polyethylene/PTFEwax blend 1

Similar to the lower blocking layer 794, one of the functions of theupper blocking layer 830 is to obscure the play indicia 720A-H and thecircuit elements 732A-H. Consequently, the upper blocking layer 830should be as opaque as possible, a goal which is conveniently obtainedby using carbon black or other dark pigments in the ink used to printthe upper blocking layer 830. However, the presence of carbon black inthe ink used to print the upper blocking layer 830 can result in an inkformulation that is somewhat conductive. However, the ink formulation inTable 9 does provide a relatively high sheet resistivity which, in thiscase, is greater than about 20 MΩ/□. In addition, the ink formulation inTable 9 has a reduced graphic adhesiveness compared the to the inkpresented in Table 6 which is suitable for printing the lower blockinglayer 794. The ink presented in Table 9 therefore can be readily removedfrom the ticket 700 when the play spot areas 716A-H are removed toreveal the underlying play indicia 720A-H.

The station 784 prints the next layer which consists of the indiciacircuit elements 732A-H. The appearance of the ticket 700 at this pointvaries according to the configuration of the upper blocking layer 830.FIG. 68 illustrates the ticket 700 when the upper blocking layer 830 isprinted as the continuous layer 832. Since in the preferred embodimentthe continuous layer 832 is printed with a material that does notinterfere with the electrical signatures of the circuit elements 732A-H,740, 750A, and 750B there is no need to isolate any portions of theindicia circuit elements 732A-H from the upper blocking layer 830.Consequently, the indicia circuit elements 732A-H are printed directlyon the continuous layer 832. The indicia circuit elements 732A-H arepositioned to align with the play indicia 720 so that the resistiveelements 738 overlie the play indicia 720. Thus, for example, theindicia circuit element 732A is printed on the layer 832 to align withthe play indicia 720A and the associated release coat layer portion 828A(shown in phantom) so that the resistive element 738A overlies the playindicia 720A and the associated release coat layer portion 828A.

Printing press station 786 prints the next layer on the ticket which isa removable scratch-off coating 846. As shown in FIG. 631, thescratch-off coating 846 is printed as a continuous layer that covers theplay field portion 706 of the ticket 700 and the validation number 726within the ticket identification portion 708 of the ticket. In order notto interfere with the electrical signatures of the circuit elements732A-H, 740, 750A, and 750B, the electrical conductivity of thescratch-off coating 846 should be significantly less that the electricalconductivity of the circuit elements 732A-H, 740, 750A, and 750B. In thepreferred embodiment, the sheet resistivity of the scratch-off coating846 is greater than 10⁸ Ω/0. A suitable formulation for the scratch-offcoating 846 is given in Walton, U.S. Pat. No. 4,726,608. The remainingtwo printing press stations 788 and 790 apply overprint graphics such asthe play spot areas 716A-H, the play spot graphics 718, thevoid-if-removed area 722, and the overprint graphics 724 and thusprovide the finished appearance of the ticket 700 as shown in FIG. 49.

The structure of the ticket 700 can be simplified by replacing theseparate seal coat layer 826, shown in FIG. 59, and the discontinuousrelease coat layer 828, shown in FIG. 60, with a combined seal-releasecoat layer, generally denoted as 848. Like the release coat 828, thecombined seal-release coat layer 848 is not continuous but insteadconsists of discreet layer portions 848A-H that are associated with theplay indicia 720A-H and a discrete layer portion 848I that is associatedwith the validation number 736. For example, as shown in FIG. 72 thecombined seal-release coat layer 848 is printed on the primer 820 sothat the seal-release coat layer portion 848A covers the play indicia720A. Similarly, the combined seal-release coat portion 848G covers theplay indicia 720G. In addition, the seal-release coat portion 848Icovers the validation number 726. The combined seal-release coat 848protects the play indicia 720A-H and the validation number 726 againstabrasion. The combined seal-release coat 848 also ensures that thelayers which overlie the play indicia 720A-H and the validation number726 can be removed to reveal the play indicia 720A-H and the validationnumber 726. In addition, as explained in reference to FIG. 67, thediscrete seal-release coat portions 848A-H help to ensure that theelectrical signatures of the indicia circuit elements 732A-H change whenthe layers overlying the play indicia 720A-H are removed. In order notto interfere with the electrical signatures of the circuit elements732A-H, 740, 750A, and 750B, the electrical conductivity of theseal-release coat layer 848 should be significantly less than theelectrical conductivity of the circuit elements 732A-H, 740, 750A, and750B. In the preferred embodiment, the sheet resistivity of theseal-release coat 848 is greater than about 10⁸ Ω/□. However, since theseal-release coat layer 848 does not contact any of the capacitivepick-up areas 734A-H. 736A-H, 742A-H, 744A-H, 752A-B, and 754A-B, alesser sheet resistivity, for example about 10⁷ Ω/□, would beacceptable.

The printing sequence for the ticket changes slightly when theseal-release coat 848 is used instead of the separate seal coat layer826 and the separate release coat layer 828. Instead of printing theseal coat 826 on the primer layer 820, station 778 prints theseal-release coat 848 on the primer layer. Station 780 then prints theupper blocking layer 830 as previously described with reference to FIG.61 and station 782 prints the indicia circuit elements 732A-H aspreviously described with reference to FIG. 62. It should be noted thatwhen the combined seal-release coat 848 is used the primer layer 820,instead of the seal coat layer 826, is exposed in the channels 840A and840B defined by the upper barred blocking layer 834 and in the apertures844A-D defined by the upper patterned blocking layer 842. However, likethe seal coat layer 826 the primer layer 820 has a sheet resistivitythat is greater than 10⁸ Ω/□. The ticket 700 therefore functions in thesame manner as described with reference to FIG. 61 when the seal-releasecoat layer 848 is used instead of the separate seal coat 826 and theseparate release coat 828. This printing sequence also makes it possibleto apply the indicia circuit elements 732A-H twice, at stations 782 and784. As explained below with reference to FIG. 67, portions of theindicia circuit elements 732A-H are removed when portions of thescratch-off layer 846 within the play spot areas 716A-H are removed toreveal the play indicia 720A-H. Consequently, the ink used to print theindicia circuit elements 732A-H has a reduced graphic adhesivenessrelative to the ink used to print the integrity circuit elements 740 andthe data circuit elements 750A-B. The reduced graphic adhesiveness ofthe ink used to print the indicia circuit elements 732A-H, coupled withthe high speed of the gravure printing press 760 can result in smallholes, known as picking, in the indicia circuit elements 732A-H. FIGS.65 and 66 present an enlarged representation of one of the indiciacircuit elements 732A-H, for example, the element 732A. In FIG. 65 asmall portion 850 of the indicia circuit element 732A has beenpicked-off during the printing of the element 732A. Similarly, in FIG.66 a different small portion 852 of the indicia circuit element 732A hasbeen picked-off during the printing of the element 732A. The resultingdiscontinuity in the indicia circuit element 732A in FIGS, 65 and 66 canlead to errors in detecting the electrical signature of the indiciacircuit element 732A. However, if the two illustrations of the indiciacircuit element 732A in FIGS. 65 and 66 are superimposed, for example,by laying the indicia circuit element 732A in FIG. 74 over the indiciacircuit element 732A in FIG. 73 in registry therewith, the combinedimage does not suffer from any discontinuities. Therefore, by printingthe indicia circuit elements 732A-H at two of the stations, for exampleat the stations 782 and 784, such that the two layers of the indiciacircuit elements 732A-H are in registry with each other, discontinuitiesin the printed indicia circuit elements 732A-H can be reduced oreliminated.

FIG. 67 presents an enlarged view of one of the indicia circuitelements, for example circuit element 720A, and the underlyingassociated play indicia 720A. FIG. 67 also shows the position andconfiguration of the associated release coat layer portion 828A or theassociated seal-release coat layer portion 848A. As previouslyexplained, the release coat 828 or the seal-release coat 848 isinterposed between the play indicia 732A-H and the indicia circuitelements 732A-H. Although not shown, it is to be understood that theupper blocking layer 830 is also interposed between the release coat 828or the seal-release coat 848 and the indicia circuit elements 732A-H. Asshown in FIG. 67, in the preferred embodiment the resistive element 738Ais printed over either the release coat layer portion 828A or theseal-release coat layer portion 848A so that a portion 854 extendsbeyond the release coat layer portion 828A or the seal-release coatlayer portion 848A thereby ensuring that the electrical signature of thecircuit element 732 changes when the layers overlying the play indicia720 are lifted or removed.

The complete structure of the ticket 700 offers several securityadvantages. The lower and upper blocking layers 794 and 830 help toprotect against surreptitious detection of the play indicia 720A-H andthe circuit elements 732A-H, 740, 750A, and 750B by candling orfluorescence. The integrity circuit 740 provides a way of determining ifan attempt has been made to alter the bar code 730, for example, bycutting and replacing the bar code 730. The data circuits 750A and 750Boffer at least partial ticket authenticity and integrity information inbinary form. The indicia circuit elements 732A-H both protect the playindicia 720A-H against fraudulent manipulation and provide a way toverify the gaming value of the ticket 700. As noted previously withreference to FIGS. 75 and 76, in the preferred embodiment the indiciacircuit elements 732A-H are printed over either the release coatportions 828A-H or the seal-release coat portions 848A-H so thatportions 854A-H of the resistive elements 738A-H extend beyond therelease coat layer portions 828A-H or the seal-release coat layerportions 848A-H. When one of the play spot areas 716A-H, for example theplay spot area 716A, is lifted to reveal the underlying play indicia720A, the resistive element 738A will be fractured because the portion854A of the resistive element 738A remains affixed to the ticket 700.Consequently, if an attempt is made thereafter to replace the play spotarea 716A and the fractured resistive element 738A, the resulting changein the electrical signature of the indicia circuit element 732A isdetected by the sensor array 502 of the electronic verification machine500. In addition, when a play spot area such as the play spot area 716Ais legitimately removed to reveal the play indicia 720A, the electricalcontinuity between the capacitive pick-up area 734A and 736A of theindicia circuit element 732A is broken when the resistive element 738Ais removed with the play spot area 716A. The resulting change in theelectrical signature of the indicia circuit element 738A can then bedetected by the sensor array 502 of the electronic verification machine500, thereby providing a way to determine the gaming value of the ticket700.

VII. A Data Card According To The Invention.

FIG. 68 shows a data card 922 which can be used with the electronicverification machine 500, shown in FIGS. 38-40. The data card 922includes circuit elements, generally denoted as 924, that are printeddirectly on a substrate 926. Each of the circuit elements 924 includestwo terminal capacitive pick-up areas, generally denoted as 928 and 930,and a data track, generally denoted as 932, that spans between the twoterminal capacitive pick-up areas 928 and 930. In addition, each of thecircuit elements 924 can include intermediate capacitive pick-up areas,generally denoted as 934, 936, and 938, that are positioned on the card922 intermediate the terminal capacitive pick-up areas 928 and 930 andare aligned with the terminal capacitive pick-up areas 928 and 930. Aswith the marker card 860, each pair of adjacent capacitive pick-upareas, for example, the capacitive pick-up area 928B and the capacitivepick-up area 934B, or the capacitive pick-up area 934B and thecapacitive pick-up area 936B, define partial U-Shaped circuit elementsthe remainder of which are defined by an associated portion 940A-L ofthe data tracks 932. The U-shaped circuit elements can in turn encodeeither a bit-off or “0” signal or a bit-on or “1” signal, depending onwhether or not the associated portions 940A-L of the data tracks 932contain conductive material. For example, the U-shaped circuit elementthat is defined by the capacitive pick-up areas 928A and 934A and theassociated portion 940A of the data track 932A encode a bit-off or “0”signal and the U-shaped circuit element that is defined by thecapacitive pick-up areas 928B and 934B and the associated portion 940Eof the data track 932B encodes a bit-on or “1” signal. Thus, readingfrom left to right, the first row of U-Shaped circuit elements encodes“011”, the second row of U-Shaped circuit elements encodes “110”, thethird row of U-shaped circuit elements encodes “100” and the fourth rowof U-shaped circuit elements encodes “111”. A suitable ink for printingthe circuit elements 924A-C for the data card 922 can be printed withthe ink that was previously described in Table 1.

VIII. A Third Electronic Verification Machine

A. Components

A third and preferred embodiment of an electronic verification machine1000 according to the invention is shown in FIG. 69. The electronicverification machine 1000 includes a housing 1004 that includes a coversection 1006, a bottom section 1008, and a front section 1010. Althoughthe exact configuration of the exterior of the electronic verificationmachine 1000 can vary, the exterior of the electronic verificationmachine 1000 preferably includes a display panel 1012, a user interface1014, and a document interface 1016, all of which are positioned alongthe cover section 1006. The display panel 1012 can display instructions,such as “Insert Ticket” and can also display the results of documentvalidation and verification testing. The display panel 1012 preferablyconsists of a commercially available display unit, such as a liquidcrystal display, a gas discharge display, or a light emitting diode(LED) display. The user interface 1014 includes a numeric keypad, showngenerally as 1018, and function keys, shown generally as 1020. Theoperator can use the user interface 1014 to manually enter data from thedocument into the electronic verification machine 1000. The documentinterface 1016 includes a slot 1022 into which the document to be testedis inserted. In the preferred embodiment, the document interface 1016also includes an exit slot 1024 from which the document being testedexits the electronic verification machine 1000. In addition, theelectronic verification machine 1000 preferably includes a door 1026located on the front section 1010 of the housing 1004. The door 1026provides access to the document pathway and can be used to clear thepathway should the document become jammed within the electronicverification machine 1000. The door 1026 also provides access to amirror 1028 (shown in phantom) that is positioned along the innersurface of the door 1026. As explained below, the mirror 1028 can beused to read certain kinds of data printed on the document. The door1026 and associated front section 1010 also include a door positionsensor 1029. Indicator lights 1030 located on the front section 1010 canbe used to indicate that the door 1026 is open or jammed, that adocument is jammed within the document channel 1038, or that theelectronic verification machine 1000 is unable to scan a document.

FIG. 70 is a block diagram of the relationship among the majorcomponents of the electronic verification machine 1000. The sensor head1036 is connected to the master control processing board 1054 by theribbon connector 1050. The light emitting diodes 1076 and 1078 whichform parts of the edge detectors 1062 and 1064, respectively, areconnected to the master control processing board 1054 by the lines 1066and 1068, respectively. The door position sensor 1029 is connected tothe master control processing board 1054 by the line 1090, while theindicator lights 1030 are operatively connected to the master controlprocessing board 1054 by the line 1092. A line 1094 operatively connectsthe stepper motor 1058 to the master control processing board 1054. Thelines 1072 operatively connect the bar code reader 1070 to the mastercontrol processing board 1054. The user interface 1014 is operativelyconnected to the master control processing board 1054 by the ribbonconnector 1015. The electronic verification machine also includes astigmatization circuit 1096 which is used in conjunction with the sensorarray 1044 and the master control processing board 1054 to stigmatize adocument being tested once its electrical signature has been measured.The stigmatization circuit 1096 is operatively connected to the sensorarray 1044 by lines 1098 and to the master control processing board 1054by lines 1100.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention, master control processingboard 1054 includes two microcontrollers, a support microcontroller 1102and a primary microcontroller 1104. The support microcontroller 1102 isused in controlling all low-level device interfaces, such as the sensorarray 1044, the stigmatization circuit 1096, the edge detectors 1062 and1064, the door position sensor 1029, the indicator lights 1030, the userinterface 1014, the bar code reader 1070 and the stepper motor 1058. Aset of lines 1106-1110 provides signal inputs and outputs to the supportmicrocontroller 1102. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, thesupport microcontroller 1102 is a Motorola MC68HC16 processor whichincorporates a 16 bit central processing unit, a single chip integrationmodule, a multi-channel communications interface, a general purposetimer and a time processing unit. The support microcontroller alsoincludes an 8 to 10 bit analog-to-digital (A/D) converter 1112 andmemory 1114. The memory 1114 of the support microcontroller 1102preferably includes 48 Kbytes of Programmable Read Only Memory (PROM)and 65 Kbytes of Static Random Access Memory (SRAM). The bar code reader1070 is connected to the support microcontroller 1102 by a standardbidirectional UART port operating at 9600 Baud. The internal timers ofthe support microcontroller 1102 are used to control the stepper motor1058. The edge detectors 1062 and 1064 are interfaced to the supportmicrocontroller as standard Transistor-Transistor Logic (TTL) signals.

The primary microcontroller 1104 is used to process the electricalsignature of the document being tested in order to verify that thedocument is authentic. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, theprimary microcontroller 1104 preferably is a 32 bit Elan SC410A whichoperates at an internal clock speed of 66 MHz. The primarymicrocontroller 1104 also includes memory 1116 which, in the preferredembodiment consists of 4-8 Mbytes of Dynamic Random Access Memory(DRAM), 2-4 Mbytes of flash memory, and 512 Kbytes to 1 Mbyte of SRAMsupported by a back up battery. In the preferred embodiment of theinvention, the primary microcontroller 1104 includes a gluelessburst-mode interface that allows the flash memory to be partitioned into various sectors, e.g., operating system, operational software versionA, operational software version B, etc. The primary microcontroller 1104is connected to the support microcontroller 1102 by a high speedparallel interface 1118. A parallel interface 1120 connects the primarymicrocontroller 1104 to a Dual Universal AsynchronousReceiver-Transmitter (DUART) 1122 which is also connected by a serialdigital line at Transistor Transistor Logic (TTL) levels to a modem1126. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the modem 1126 is a14.4 kbps Rockwell modem. The modem 1126 is used to providecommunications between the electronic verification machine 1000 and acentral site computer, such as the computer 223 (shown in FIG. 17).

As mentioned earlier, the support microcontroller 1102 is used for alllow level device interfaces. Consequently, the primary microcontroller1104 is used only for high level functionality such as comparing themeasured electrical signature to a predetermined game signature map suchas shown in FIG. 44. In addition, the primary microcontroller 1104communicates with the central site computer 223 to obtain game specificinformation such as the game signature map 632, and to determine theredemption value of high level probability game lottery tickets, such asthe ticket 700. To maximize communications flexibility with the centralsite computer, the electronic verification machine can also be equippedwith an optional Motorola MC68302 communications processor (not shown).This communications processor would then be used to handle all low-levelcommunications protocols, thereby allowing the primary microcontroller1104 to focus exclusively on high-level ticket/user functionality.

FIG. 71 is a top plan view of the sensor head 1036 and shows the sensorarray 1044 in more detail. The sensor head 1036 includes thephototransistors 1080 and 1082 that form parts of the edge detectors1062 and 1064 (shown in FIG. 98) and the sensor array circuit board 1084of which the sensor array 1044 forms a part. In the preferredembodiment, the sensor array circuit board 1084 is secured to a sensorhead housing 1128 which also carries the phototransistors 1080 and 1082.Due to the intimate physical contact between the document being testedand the sensor head 1036, if not protected the phototransistors 1080 and1082 can become dirty over time due to contact with the document beingtested. Consequently, in the preferred embodiment of the invention, thephototransistors 1080 and 1082 are embedded within and protected by thesensor head housing 1128 which is formed from a plastic that istransparent in the infrared region. In the preferred embodiment, a clearAcrylic with a 94-V0 flame rating is used to form the sensor headhousing 1128.

The sensor array 1044 includes an elongated excitation plate 1130,thirteen sensor plates 1132A-1132M, and a fuse excitation pad 1134. Itshould be noted that, in an embodiment of the invention that does notinclude stigmatization, the fuse excitation pad 1134 can be replacedwith a sensor plate to provide fourteen document sensor channels. Thevertical dimension of each of the sensor plates 1132A-1132M preferablyis 0.1 inches and the horizontal dimension of each of the sensor plates1132A-1132M preferably is 0.1 inches. The vertical dimension of theexcitation plate 1130, which preferably is located about 0.05 inchesfrom the sensor plates 1132A-1132M, preferably is 0.1 inches. Thehorizontal dimension of the fuse excitation pad 1134 preferably is about0.1 inches and the vertical dimension preferably is about 0.26 inches.The sensor array 1044 can also include a thin ground strap 1136positioned intermediate the excitation plate 1130 and the sensor plates1132A-1132M. Because of the close proximity of the excitation plate 1130and the sensor plates 1132A-1132M, the excitation signal can jumpbetween the excitation plate 1130 and the sensor plates 1132A-1132M,resulting in an inaccurate electrical signature. The ground strap 1136behaves as an “electrical fence” and prevents signal jumping from theexcitation plate 1130 to the sensor plates 1132A-1132M. The inter-sensorplate spacing should be about twice the horizontal dimension of thesensor plates 1132A-1132M. In the preferred embodiment of the invention,the spacing between any two adjacent sensor plates 1132A-1132M, such asthe sensor plates 1132B and 1132C, is about 0.18 inches. The horizontaldimension of the excitation plate 1130 is chosen so that the excitationplate 1130 spans the distance of the thirteen sensor plates 1132A-1132M.In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the horizontal dimensionof the excitation plate 1130 therefore is about 3.46 inches.

The excitation plate 1130, the sensor plates 1132A-1132M, the fuseexcitation pad 1134, and the ground strap 1136 preferably are made froma highly conductive material, such as copper. However, it has been foundthat over time the sensor array 1044 can become worn due to the closephysical contact of the document being tested. Consequently, in thepreferred embodiment of the invention, the excitation plate 1130, thesensor plates 1132A-1132M, the fuse excitation pad 1134, and the groundstrap 1136 are initially formed as a three-part layer consisting ofcopper, covered by nickel, covered by a thin layer of gold. The nickelprotects the copper surface and protects the sensor array 1044 fromundue wear and tear. The thin gold layer allows other parts of thesensor array circuit to be soldered onto the sensor array circuit board1084. Over time, the gold layer covering the sensor array elements 1130,1132A-1132M, 1134, and 1136 wears away leaving only the nickel-coatedcopper layer. The thin gold layer over the sensor array elements 1130,1132A-1132M, 1134, and 1136 thus serves as a sacrificial mask while thethin gold layer on other portions of the sensor array circuit board 1084permits soldering of other sensor head components.

The general operation of the electronic verification machine 1000 tomeasure the electrical signature and other verification data of adocument will now be explained with reference to the ticket 700, shownin FIG. 49. Referring now to FIGS. 69-71, the electronic verificationmachine 1000 measures the electrical signature of the document beingtested, such as the ticket 700, by capacitively coupling an excitationsignal from the triangular waveform generator 510 (shown in FIGS. 40,41, and 101) to the document via the excitation plate 1130. Since thereare thirteen sensor plates 1132A-1132M, the sensor array 1044 providesthirteen sensed electrical signature values for each step of the steppermotor 1058. The thirteen sensed electrical values are forwarded toassociated amplifiers. The processed signal is then sampled by the 8-bitAND converter 1112. The 8-bit values of the sampled signals are thenpassed to the primary microcontroller 1104 for analysis.

One of the objects of the electronic verification machine 1000 is todetermine the electrical signature of the document being tested. Whenthe document being tested consists of a probability game ticket, such asthe ticket 700 (shown in FIG. 49), the electrical signature consists ofa two-dimensional array or grid which represents the location and amountof conductive material found on the document. The sensor array 1044 ofthe electronic verification machine 1000 is used to scan the playingfield portion 706 and the ticket identification portion 708 of theticket 700 to determine the amount and location of conductive materialsand to generate a scanned data map or scratch map, such as that shown inFIG. 45. The primary electrical signature value that the sensor array1044 detects is the total capacitance of the excitation plate 1130 and agiven one of the sensor plates 1132A-1132M. In general, capacitance isdefined by Maxwell's equation:C=Kε ₀(A/T)where K is the dielectric constant of the insulating material separatingthe conductive planes of the capacitor, A is the intersecting area ofthe conductive planes, T is the thickness of the insulating material andε₀ is the permittivity of free space. When the sensor array 1044 iscapacitively coupled to the document being tested, such as the ticket700, the excitation plate 1130 and a given one of the sensor plates1132A-1132M, such as the sensor plate 1132A, function as two capacitorsC1 and C2 whose capacitance depends on the nature and amount ofconductive material on the portions of the ticket 700 which underlie theexcitation plate 1130 and the sensor plate 1132A.

A simplified partial circuit diagram of the capacitive coupling betweenthe sensor array 1044 and the document being tested, such as the ticket700, is shown in FIG. 72. C_(t1) represents the capacitance between theexcitation plate 1130 and the document being tested and C_(t2)represents the capacitance between the document and one of the sensorplates 1132A-1132M, such as the sensor plate 1132A. The portion of theticket 700 which is intermediate the excitation plate 1130 and thesensor plate 1132A functions as a resistor having a resistancerepresented by R_(t) and effectively connects in series the capacitorsC1 and C2 formed at the excitation plate 1130 and the sensor plate1132A, respectively. Consequently, the total coupling capacitanceC_(total) is the combined capacitances of C_(t1) and C_(t2). Themagnitudes of C_(t1) and C_(t2) depend on the nature and amount ofconductive material on the portions of the ticket 700 which underlie theexcitation plate 1130 and the sensor plate 1132A. Referring back toFIGS. 49-71, it will be recalled that the ticket 700 is printed inseveral different layers. One of the conductive layers printed on theticket 700, such the integrity circuit element 740 layer, the indiciacircuit elements 732A-732H layer, or the upper blocking layer 830,serves as the conducting plane in the ticket 700 which operates with theexcitation plate 1130 and the sensor plate 1132A to form the twocapacitors C1 and C2. The printed layers which lie between theexcitation plate 1130 and the conductive layer and which lie between thesensor plate 1132A and the conductive layer serve as the insulatingmedium whose thickness and dielectric constant affect the magnitudes ofC_(t1) and C_(t2). The particular conductive layer which forms theconducting plane in the ticket 700 varies depending on the portion ofthe ticket 700 which is capacitively coupled to the sensor array 1044,as do the particular layers which form the insulating medium.

It will be recalled that the final form of the ticket 700 includesseveral different printed layers. The characteristics of the inks usedto print the various layers affects the electrical signature measured bythe electronic verification machine 1000. When the electronicverification machine 1000 is used to determine the electrical signatureof a probability game ticket, such as the ticket 700, the preferredfirst layer 794 (shown in FIG. 52) is an opaque blocking layer thathelps to protect the play indica 720A-H and the circuit elements 732A-H,740, 750A, and 750B, from surreptitious detection by candling. In thepresently preferred embodiment of the invention, the first layer 794ideally is non-conductive relative to conductive layers, such as thelayer of integrity circuit elements 740 and the layer of play indiciacircuit elements 732A-732H. The presently preferred formulation for theink used to print the first layer 794 is given in Table 10. TABLE 10 InkFormulation for the First Layer 794 (Opaque Blocking Layer 794) materialwt % Methyl Ethyl Ketone 56.13 VYHH vinyl resin 5.58 VMCA vinyl resin17.00 Acrylic resin 3.28 Carbon Black 9.30 Diacetone alcohol 5.00Sucrose acetate isobutyrate solution 2.50 polymeric surfactant 1.21The sheet resistivity of the ink described in Table 10 is greater than20 MΩD/□.

The next layer printed on the ticket 700 contains the integrity circuitelements 740 as well as the data circuit elements 750A and 750B. It willbe recalled that the integrity circuit elements 740 are used todetermine the authenticity and integrity of the ticket identificationindicia, such as the bar code 730, while the data circuit elements 750Aand 750B are used to provide additional ticket authenticity andintegrity information. The ink used to print the data circuit elements740 and the data circuit elements 750A and 750B should be fairlyconductive. The presently preferred formulation for the ink used toprint the second layer 816 containing the integrity circuit elements 740and the data circuit elements 750A and 750B is given in Table 11. TABLE11 Ink Formulation for the Second Layer 816 (the Integrity CircuitElements 740 and the Data Circuit Elements 750A and 750B) material wt %Water 38.75 Styrenated acrylic Varnish (J678) 7.00 Dimethylethanol amine0.25 Acetylenic surfactant 1.00 Defoamer (RS576) 0.25 Carbon Black 15.00Stryrenated acrylic emulsion (7830) 21.75 Ethyl Alcohol 3.00 Styrenatedacrylic emulsion (J89) 8.00 Polyethylene wax dispersion (J28) 5.00The ink formulation given in Table 11 has a sheet resistivity less than5 KΩ/□.

Both of the inks used to print the first layer 794 and the second layercontaining the integrity circuit elements 740 and the data circuitelements 750A and 750B contain carbon black. Consequently, these twolayers on the ticket 700 present a dark image. The third layer 818(shown in FIG. 58) is a masking layer which prevents visual interferencefrom these two layers by masking the lower blocking layer 794, theintegrity circuit elements 740, and the data circuit elements 750A and750B. The third layer 818 ideally is non-conductive relative toconductive layers, such as the layer of integrity circuit elements 740and the layer of play indicia circuit elements 732A-732H. A suitableformulation for the third layer 818 was given previously in Table 7 andhas a sheet resistivity greater than 10⁸ Ω/□. The fourth layer printedon the ticket 700 is a primer layer 820 that provides a suitable surfacefor printing the play indicia 720A-H (shown in FIG. 61). The ink used toprint the fourth layer 820 should be non-conductive relative toconductive layers, such as the layer of integrity circuit elements 740and the layer of play indicia circuit elements 732A-732H and preferablyhas a sheet resistivity greater than 10⁸ Ω/□.

The fifth layer printed on the ticket 700 contains the play indicia720A-720H (shown in FIG. 61). As will be recalled, a standard ink jetprinting station is used to print this layer on the ticket 700.Consequently, this layer is printed with commercially available laserjet inks. The sixth layer 826 (shown in FIG. 63) is a UV seal coat layerthat protects the play indicia 720A-720H and the validation number 726against abrasion. The sixth layer 826 should also be non-conductiverelative to conductive layers, such as the layer of integrity circuitelements 740 and the layer of play indicia circuit elements 732A-732Hand preferably has a sheet resistivity on the order of 10⁸ Ω/□. Theseventh layer printed on the ticket 700 is the release coat layer 828which, as shown in FIG. 64, is printed as discreet layer portions828A-828H that are associated with the play indicia 720A and thediscrete layer portion 828I that is associated with the validationnumber 726. In order not to interfere with the electrical signatures ofthe circuit elements 732A-H, 740, 750A, and 750B, the electricalconductivity of the release coat layer 828 should be significantly lessthan the electrical conductivity of the circuit elements 732A-H, 740,750A, and 750B and preferably has a sheet resistivity of 10⁸ Ω/□.

The eighth layer printed on the ticket 700 is the opaque upper blockinglayer 830 (shown in FIG. 65) that helps to protect the play indicia720A-H, the validations number 726 and portions of the circuit elements732A-H, 740, 750A, and 750B against surreptitious detection by candling.The eighth layer 830 preferably is non-conductive relative to theconductive layers on the ticket 700, such as the layer of integritycircuit elements 740 and data circuit elements 750A and 750B and thelayer of play indicia circuit elements 732A-732H. An appropriateformulation for the ink used to print the eighth layer (upper blockinglayer 830) is given in Table 12. This ink formulation has a sheetresistivity of greater than or equal to 20 MΩ/□. This formulation ispreferred when the play indicia circuit elements 732A-732H are printedwith the ink described in Table 13, below. TABLE 12 Ink Formulation forthe Eighth Layer 830 (Upper Blocking Layer 830) material wt % Conductivecarbon black dispersion 30.00 (AGC 2708 Mod III, Merit) Heptane 16.00Normal propyl acetate 13.60 Kraton varnish (AGC 2640) 25.00 (a 25%solution of rubber copolymer) Calcium Carbonate 10.00 PE/PTFE wax blend(PF 150) 3.00 Silicone Emulsion (DC 29) 0.50 Silicone Emulsion (DC 18)0.90 Maleic rosin ester resin (3330 Varnish, 1.00 Merit)

The play indicia circuit elements 732A-732H (shown in FIG. 68) areprinted on the ticket 700 as the ninth layer. The play indicia circuitelements 732A-732H are used to determine the authenticity and integrityof the play indicia 720A-720H. Consequently, the ink used to print theplay indicia circuit elements 732A-732H should be fairly conductive. Anappropriate formulation for the ink used to print the play indiciacircuit elements 732A-732H is given in Table 13. This formulation has asheet resistivity of less than or equal to 2500 Ω/□ and is particularyuseful when the document, such as the ticket 700, includes astimatization element, such as an electronic fuse junction 1146 (shownin FIG. 105 and described in more detail below.) TABLE 13 InkFormulation for the Ninth Layer (Play Indicia Circuit Elements732A-732H) material wt % 06-M conductive black base (Merit) 64.00Colloid acrylic resin (Carboset 1594) 11.00 PE/PTFE wax blend (Polyfluo)2.00 Ethanol 3.00 Acrylic microspheres (Ropaque OP 96) 5.00 Siliconeemulsion (DC 29) 1.50 Surfactant (BYK 348) 0.50 Styrenated acrylicemulsion (Lucidene 10.00 604) Water 3.00

The tenth layer printed on the ticket 700 is the removable scratch offcoating 846, shown in FIG. 63. The scratch-off coating 846 is printed asa continuous layer that covers the play field portion 706 of the ticket700 and the validation number 726 within the ticket identificationportion 708 of the ticket. To avoid interference with the electricalsignatures of the circuit elements 732A-H, 740, 750A, and 750B, theelectrical conductivity of the scratch-off coating 846 should besignificantly less that the electrical conductivity of the circuitelements 732A-H, 740, 750A, and 750B and preferably has a sheetresistivity greater than 10⁸ Ω/□. Suitable scratch-off coatings are wellknown in the art.

The eleventh and twelfth layers printed on the ticket 700 are overprintgraphic layers, such as the play spot areas 716A-H, the play spotgraphics 718, the void-if-removed area 722, and the overprint graphics724. These layers help to provide the finished appearance of the ticket700 as shown in FIG. 49. To avoid interference with the measuredelectric signatures of the conductive layers on the ticket 700, such asthe second layer, which contains the integrity circuit elements 740 aswell as the data circuit elements 750A and 750B, and the ninth layer,which contains the play indicia circuit elements 732A-732H, these layersshould be relatively non-conductive and preferably have sheetresistivities on the order of 10⁸ Ω/□. Suitable overprint graphic inksare well known in the art.

It can thus be seen that the electrical characteristics of the variouslayers vary from one layer to another, with some layers, such as secondlayer 816 containing the integrity circuit elements 740 and the datacircuit elements 750A and 750B or the ninth layer containing the playindicia circuit elements 732A-732H, being relatively conductive whileother layers, such as the masking layer 818 or the UV seal coat layer826 are relatively non-conductive. The electrical characteristics of thelayers printed on the ticket 700 in turn can affect the electricalsignature measured by the electronic verification machine 1000. Table 14summarizes the identity and electrical characteristics of the variouslayers printed on the ticket 700. TABLE 14 Identity and ElectricalCharacteristics of Ticket 700 Printed Layers Layer Number Identity SheetResistivity Layer 12 Overprint Graphics ˜10⁸ Ω/□ Layer 11 OverprintGraphics ˜10⁸ Ω/□ Layer 10 Removable Scratch Off Coating 846 ˜10⁸ Ω/□Layer 9 Play Indicia Circuit Elements ≦2500 Ω/□ 732A-732H Layer 8 OpaqueUpper Blocking Layer 830 ≧20 MΩ/□ Layer 7 Release Coat Layer 828 ˜10⁸Ω/□ Layer 6 Seal Coat Layer 826 ˜10⁸ Ω/□ Layer 5 Play Indicia 720A-720H˜10⁸ Ω/□ Layer 4 Primer Layer 820 ˜10⁸ Ω/□ Layer 3 Masking Layer 818˜10⁸ Ω/□ Layer 2 Integrity Circuit Elements 740 <5000 Ω/□ Layer 1 OpaqueBlocking Layer 794 >20 MΩ/□

Although the final form of the preferred embodiment ticket 700 includesall of the layers 1 through 12, specific portions of the ticket 700 maycontain only a few of the layers because some of the layers are printedas discontinuous patterns or as discreet layer portions. For example,the ninth layer is composed of the individual play indicia circuitelements 732A-732H and therefore is not a continuous layer. Similarly,the release coat layer 828 is printed as discreet layer portions828A-828H that are associated with the play indicia 720A and thediscrete layer portion 828I that is associated with the validationnumber 726. Consequently, there are several different printed layerpatterns on the ticket 700, each of which can have different electricalsignatures. Variations in the structure of the ticket 700 as describedabove might be desirable based on the configuration, use, or method ofmanufacture of such probability-type lottery tickets or similardocuments utilizing conductive elements.

The printing sequence described with reference to FIGS. 49-67 results inat least three general types of printed layer patterns on the ticketsubstrate 702, as shown in FIGS. 73A-75B. Referring to FIG. 73A, a firstprinted layer pattern 1140 consists of the first opaque blocking layer794, the layer containing the integrity circuit element 740, the maskinglayer 818, the primer layer 820, and the layer containing the bar code730. The first printed layer pattern 1140 is formed on the ticketidentity portion 708 (shown in FIG. 49) of the ticket 700. FIG. 73B is aconceptual representation of the two capacitors which are formed whenthe excitation plate 1130 and the sensor plate 1132A are capacitivelycoupled to a portion of the ticket 700 which contains the first printedlayer pattern 1140. The capacitive pick-up area 744 of the integritycircuit element 740 forms the conducting plane in the ticket 700 thatcouples with the excitation plate 1130 to form the first capacitor. Thecapacitive pick-up area 742 of the integrity circuit element 740 formsthe conductive plane in the ticket 700 that couples with the sensorplate 1132A to form the second capacitor. The resistive element 746 ofthe integrity circuit element 740 functions as the resistor thatconnects the two capacitors in series. The masking layer 818, the primerlayer 820, and the layer containing the bar code 730 serve as theinsulating medium which is interposed between the excitation plate 1130and the capacitive pick-up area 744 and which is interposed between thesensor plate 1132A and the capacitive pick-up area 742. The thickness ofthe masking layer 818, the primer layer 820, and the layer containingthe bar code 730 and the dielectric constant of the masking layer 818,the primer layer 820, and the layer containing the bar code 730 affectthe magnitude of the capacitances C_(t1) and C_(t2) formed at theexcitation plate 1130 and the sensor plate 1132A.

A second printed layer pattern 1142, shown in FIG. 74A, consists of thefirst opaque blocking layer 794, the masking layer 818, the primer layer820, the seal coat layer 826, the upper blocking layer 830, and thescratch-off coating 846. The second printed layer pattern 1142 is formedon the playing field portion 706 of the ticket 700 in locations wherethere are no play indicia, such as the portion of the ticket 700 betweenthe play spot area 716B and the play spot area 716C (shown in FIG. 49).FIG. 74B is a conceptual representation of the two capacitors which areformed when the excitation plate 1130 and the sensor plate 1132A arecapacitively coupled to a portion of the ticket 700 which contains thesecond printed layer pattern 1142. The upper blocking layer 830 servesas both the conductive plane in the ticket 700 and the resistor whichconnects the two capacitors in series. The scratch-off coating 846 andany overprint graphics serve as the insulating medium interposed betweenthe excitation plate 1130 and the upper blocking layer 830 and which isinterposed between the sensor plate 1132A and the upper blocking layer830. Consequently, the thickness of the scratch-off coating 830 and anyoverprint graphics and the dielectric constant of the scratch-off layer830 and any overprint graphics affect the magnitude of the capacitancesC_(t1) and C_(t2) formed at the excitation plate 1130 and the sensorplate 1132A.

A third printed layer pattern 1144, shown in FIG. 75A, consists of theblocking layer 794, the masking layer 818, the primer layer 820, thelayer containing the play indicia 720A-720H, the seal coat layer 826,the release coat layer 828, the upper blocking layer 830, the layercontaining the indicia circuit elements 732A-732H, and the scratch-offcoating 846. The third printed layer pattern 1144 is formed on theplaying field 706 portion of the ticket 700 at each of the play spotareas 716A-716H. FIG. 75B is a conceptual representation of the twocapacitors which are formed when the excitation plate 1130 and thesensor plate 1132A are capacitively coupled to a portion of the ticket700 which contains the third printed layer pattern 1144. The capacitivepick-up area 736 of any given indicia circuit element 732A-732H formsthe conducting plane in the ticket 700 that couples with the excitationplate 1130 to form the first capacitor. The capacitive pick-up area 734of the given one of the indicia circuit elements 732A-732H forms theconducting plane in the ticket 700 that couples with the sensor plate1132A to form the second capacitor. The resistive element 738 of thegiven one of the indicia circuit elements 732A-732H serves as theresistor that connects the two capacitors in series. The scratch-offcoating 846 and any overprint graphics serve as the insulating mediuminterposed between the excitation plate 1130 and the capacitive pick-uparea 736 and which is interposed between the sensor plate 1132A and thecapacitive pick-up area 734. Consequently, the thickness of thescratch-off coating 830 and any overprint graphics and the dielectricconstant of the scratch-off layer 830 and any overprint graphics affectthe magnitude of the capacitances C_(t1) and C_(t2) formed at theexcitation plate 1130 and the sensor plate 1132A.

As stated earlier, there are thirteen sensed electrical values for eachstep of the stepper motor 1058. The stepper motor 1058 advances thedocument being tested, such as the ticket 700, in discreet steps of 0.02inches each where H is the height of the document in inches. Thethirteen electrical values for each step of the stepper motor 1058correspond to the C_(total) across each one of the thirteen sensorplates 1132A-1132M and the excitation plate 1130. C_(total) between anygiven one of the sensor plates 1132A-1132M, such as the sensor plate1132A, and the excitation plate 1130 in turn depends upon the nature ofthe printed layer pattern, such as the printed layer patterns 1140,1142, and 1144, that underlie the sensor plate 1132A and the excitationplate 1130. Each step of the stepper motor 1058 yields thirteen moreelectrical values, each of which can be different due to differences inthe printed layer patterns which underlie each of the thirteen sensorplates 1132A-1132M. The resulting electrical signature is atwo-dimensional array or grid, where the x-axis represents the 13electrical values for each step of the stepper motor 1058 and the y-axisrepresents the position of the sensor array 1044 in stepper motor steps.The two dimensional array constitutes a scanned data map, such as thescanned data map 634 shown in FIG. 45, which represents the location andamount of conductive material on the tested document.

When the document being tested is a probability game lottery ticket,such as the ticket 700, the scanned data map, such as the map 634 (FIG.45), is compared to a game signature map, such as the map 632 shown inFIG. 44, to determine the authenticity of the document. The electronicverification machine 1000 downloads the game signature map from thecentral site computer via the modem 1126 and stores the game signaturemap in the memory 1116 of the primary microcontroller 1104. Each gamesignature map contains a series of vectors that define information aboutthe sensed electrical values in a given area of the ticket 700. The areaof the vectors is defined as a channel number (x-axis) by stepper motorsteps (y-axis). The sensed electrical values are provided by the 8-bitA/D converter 1112 in the support microcontroller 1102. In the preferredembodiment of the invention, there are three general types of vectors: aLatex Vector, which corresponds to the electrical integrity of theprinted layer patterns, such as the patterns 1140, 1142, and 1144, onthe ticket 700; a Paper Vector, which is used to determine the thicknessof the paper stock of the ticket 700 and to sense an object pushing theLatex Sensor off the paper substrate; and a Ghost Vector, which is usedto provide protection against photocopies of the ticket 700.

C. Stigmatization

In addition to measuring the electronic signature of the document beingtested, the electronic verification machine 1000 also can stigmatize thedocument. As explained earlier in Section VI., stigmatization refers toa process by which a document, such as the ticket 700, which has alreadybeen tested by the electronic verification machine 1000 is “marked.” Inthe case of game tickets, such as the ticket 700, stigmatizationprevents winning tickets from being presented multiple times to be paid.A successful stigmatization scheme has several attributes. Thestigmatization should be automatic: if human intervention is required tostigmatize the document errors can occur when the stigmatization is notdone correctly. The stigmatization should also be difficult tocircumvent. Preferably, the stigmatization equipment should requireminimum maintenance. In addition, the stigmatization preferably permitsmonitoring of tested documents so that attempts at fraudulent redemptioncan be detected. Consequently, it is desirable that the stigmatizationbe difficult to detect.

Currently accepted practices for stigmatizing a game ticket, such as theticket 700, include visually marking the ticket, for example by stampingthe ticket with the words “PAID VOID”. Alternatively, it is common forwinning tickets to be destroyed once they have been redeemed. However,since both of these stigmatization schemes require human intervention,the possibility exists that a winning ticket will not be stigmatizedcorrectly and can then be presented multiple times for payoff. Inaddition, these stigmatization schemes do not permit monitoring of paidtickets so that attempts at fraudulent redemption can be detected.Another accepted practice is to maintain a paid ticket file in a centralcomputer. Although such a scheme does not necessarily require humanintervention and cannot be easily detected, such a stigmatization schemerequires that the ticket redemption terminal maintains a constant linkwith the central computer and such on-line linkages can be quite costly.As mentioned previously in Section IV., another method for stigmatizinga ticket involves automatically colorizing at least a portion of theticket once it has been presented for redemption. For example, a portionof the document could be printed with an invisible ink that is thermallysensitive. Once the ticket is presented for redemption, power applied bythe ticket terminal could be used to generate sufficient heat to changethe color of the invisibly printed portion, thereby automaticallystigmatizing the ticket. This scheme, however, has severaldisadvantages. The stigmatization is not difficult to detect,consequently this stigmatization scheme does not permit monitoring ofpaid tickets so that attempts at fraudulent redemption can be detected.Moreover, since heat is used as the method for activating the invisibleink and stigmatizing the ticket, heat sources other than the lotteryterminal can inadvertently result in ticket stigmatization, for example,when the ticket is left in a closed car on a hot day.

Referring back to FIG. 71, the fuse excitation pad 1134, together withthe sensor pad 1132M of the sensor array 1044 in the electronicverification machine 1000 can be used to electronically stigmatize adocument, such as the ticket 700. The fuse excitation pad 1134 providesa high voltage excitation signal which is used to alter the state of aprinted circuit element on the document. An example of a printed circuitelement that can be electronically altered by the electronicverification machine 1000 is shown in FIG. 76, where the printed circuitelement is an electronic fuse junction or fuse 1146. The electronic fusejunction 1146 includes an excitation pick-up area 1148 and a sensorpick-up area 1150 connected by a fuse link 1152. As explained in moredetail below, the electronic verification machine 1000 providessufficient energy to the electronic fuse junction 1146 via the fuseexcitation pad 1134 (shown in FIG. 71) to open the fuse link 1152between the excitation pick-up area 1148 and the sensor pick-up area1150. As described in detail below, direct measurement circuitry in theelectronic verification machine 1000 has the capability of checking thestate of the electronic fuse junction 1146. An open electronic fusejunction 1146, where the fuse link 1152 is not present, normallyindicates that the document has already been tested by the electronicverification machine 1000. On the other hand, a closed electronic fusejunction 1146 indicates that the document has not been previously testedby the electronic verification machine 1000.

An important feature of the electronic fuse junction 1146 is that itchanges its binary status, from closed to open, when the electronicverification machine 1000 applies an energy pulse via the fuseexcitation pad 1134. Therefore the composition and configuration of theelectronic fuse junction 1146 is selected such that the electronic fusejunction 1146 changes its binary status upon receipt of the energy pulserather than simply absorbing the energy pulse through, for example, heattransfer to the substrate or other materials on the document. It isdesirable to make the time duration of the energy pulse provided by theelectronic verification machine 1000 as short as possible, for example,on the order of 0.1 seconds. By the same token, to minimize heattransfer to the ambient surroundings the fuse link 1152 should be assmall as possible. In addition, the electronic fuse junction 1146,including the fuse link 1152, preferably is formed from a material thathas a reasonably high resistance so that the current flow through thefuse link 1152 will generate enough heat to break the conductive path.

When the electronic fuse junction 1146 is printed on probability gametickets, such as the ticket 700, there are additional attributes thatthe electronic fuse junction 1146 should have. For example, theelectronic fuse junction 1146 should be formed from a material that isnot hazardous to the environment or to humans. The electronic fusejunction 1146 also should be formed from a material that can be printedwith a Gravure, Offset, or Lithograph printing press. It is alsodesirable that the electronic fuse junction 1146 should be formed from amaterial which is already being used on the ticket 700, to avoid havingto add an additional printing station.

In one example, the electronic fuse junction 1146 is printed on thedocument using an ink that has a sheet resistivity in a range of fromabout 800 Ω/□ to about 2.4 KΩ/□. Preferably, the ink used to print theelectronic fuse junction 1146 has a sheet resistivity on the order of2.4 KΩ/□. Along with the above discussed criteria, the dimensions of thefuse link 1152 are determined by a number of additional factors,including by the printing press resolution, the characteristics of theink used to print the electronic fuse junction 1146, the dimensions ofthe sensor plates 1132A-1132M in the sensor array 1044, and thecharacteristics of the substrate on which the electronic fuse junction1146 is printed. In the example of the electronic fuse junction 1146printed on a probability game ticket, such as the ticket 700, thevertical dimension of the excitation pick-up area 1148 preferably isabout 0.24 inches, as is the vertical dimension of the sensor pick-uparea 1150. The horizontal dimension of the excitation pick-up area 1148preferably is about 0.10 inches, as is the horizontal dimension of thesensor pick-up area 1150. The vertical dimension of the fuse link 1152preferably is about 0.02 inches and the horizontal dimension of the fuselink 1152 preferably is about 0.05 inches. In addition, when theelectronic fuse junction 1146 is printed on a probability game ticket,such as the ticket 700, the electronic fuse junction 1146 can be printedon the ticket 700 with the same ink used to print the play indiciacircuit elements 732A-732H (shown in FIG. 50). Therefore, an additionalprinting station is not needed to print the electronic fuse junction1146 on the ticket 700. When the electronic fuse junction 1146 isprinted with an ink that has a sheet resistivity of 2.4 KΩ/□, forexample, the ink formulation described in Table 13, and has theaforementioned preferred dimension the fuse link 1152 has a resistancebetween 6 KΩ and 16 KΩ that opens reliably with the application of 0.1joules of energy expended in 0.1 second or less. It should also bepointed out that the electronic fuse junction 1146 can be printed withthe same ink used to print the circuit elements on the probability gameticket 700 or with the upper conductive black ink on a conventionallottery ticket.

The functional block diagram of FIG. 77 illustrates the stigmatizationcircuit 1096 that can be used to stigmatize a document such as theprobability ticket 700 having the electronic fuse junction 1146 of thetype shown in FIG. 76. As indicated above, it has been found that theapplication of 0.1 joules of energy to the electronic fuse junction 1146in approximately 0.01 seconds is enough to reliably open the fuse link1152. To expend 0.1 joules in 0.01 seconds requires 10 watts of averagepower. Power in a resistor is equal to the product of the resistance andthe square of the current through it. For a 16,000 □ resistor such asthe fuse link 1152, the required current is:(10/16000)^(1/2)=25 mAThe voltage across a resistor is equal to the product of the resistanceand the current through it. In this example, the required voltage isthen:16000×0.025=400 voltsThus it is possible to open a 16 KΩ fuse junction by applying 400 voltsDC to the junction. Most 10-watt, 400-volt supplies, however, are largeand expensive. However, storing the energy in a capacitor, such as acapacitor C1 as shown in FIG. 106, over a relatively long time period,at a relatively low charging rate, and discharging the capacitor intothe electronic fuse junction 1146 quickly can substantially reduce thesize and cost of the supply. The energy stored in a capacitor is equalto:Energy stored in cap.=½CE² joulesSolving for C,C=(2E)/V ²With E=0.1 joules and V=400 volts, C_(min)=1.25 μF. Since 1 μFcapacitors are more available than 1.25 μF capacitors, the above formulasuggests the use of a voltage V of at least 470 volts. With a voltage Vof 500 volts the total capacitor energy will be 0.125 joules. In thiscase, it will take approximately 13 ms to apply 0.1 joules of energyinto the fuse link 1152 which is significantly below the desired 100 msindicated above.

It is possible to provide a 500 voltage supply that runs continuously ora voltage supply that turns on when the leading edge of a ticket passesthe first edge detector. The advantage to having the voltage supplyconstantly operating is that the electronic fuse junction 1146 could belocated anywhere on the ticket 700, including the leading edge. On theother hand, if the voltage supply is off until needed, the electronicfuse junction 1146 should be located near the end of the ticket to allowthe storage capacitor time to be charged. Assuming the tickets 700 arefed into the machine 1000 one after the other, the supply should be ableto recover in the time required to process a 2-inch long ticket. Giventhat the stepper motor moves the ticket 700 at 0.02-inch per step atapproximately 300 steps per second, 0.5 seconds is available to chargethe capacitor C1. Where the capacitor C1 is charged with a constantcurrent and the actual values are V equal to 500 volts and C1 equal to 1μF, total capacitor energy will be 0.125 joules. Approximately 13 ms arerequired to dump 0.1 joules into the 16,000 Ω resistor 1152. This timeis well below 100 ms. Also since: I = C(𝕕v/𝕕t)I = (0.5)(1.0 × 10⁻⁶)/0.5 = 1  mAThe maximum output power from the supply is thus: P = IVP = 500 × 0.001 = 0.5  wattswhich is 20 times smaller than the 10-watt power supply mentioned above.

It should be understood that voltage converter topology presents avariety of choices. It is possible to use a push-pull converter, boostconverter, or flyback converter. In this case, there is no particularadvantage to transformer isolation and the output power is low enough tomake push-pull unnecessary. In order to reduce the cost of the voltagesupply, a simple boost power supply using a Texas Instruments (TI) TL497controller 1154, an off-the-shelf inductor, and 1 μF storage capacitorC1 are used in the preferred embodiment of the invention shown in FIG.106. The supply 1154 normally will require 0.3 seconds to produce 500volts on the capacitor C1.

Operation of the stigmatization circuit 1096 shown in FIG. 77 will nowbe described in connection with the operation of the electronicverification machine 1000. The supply 1154 is activated by a signal(from the support microcontroller 1102) on an inhibit line 1156 whichconverts a 12 volt DC voltage on a line 1158 from the system powersupply (not shown) to a 500 volt voltage on an input line 1160 to thecapacitor C1. The electronic fuse junction 1146 is moved by the steppermotor 1058 into position between the fuse excitation plate 1134 and thesensor pad 1132M. A voltage divider including a resistor R3 and the fuselink 1152 along with a diode D1 respond to a 5 volt signal on a line1162, from the system power supply (not shown), to apply a voltage on alink monitor line 1164 which in turn is input to an analog to digitalconverter (not shown) on the support microcontroller 1102. In the eventthat the fuse link 1152 is open, indicating that the ticket 700 mighthave already been stigmatized, a voltage of 5 volts will appear on thelink monitor line 1164. On the other hand, if the fuse link 1152 isstill present and ignoring the resistance in the fuse link 1152 and theresistor R3, a small voltage, for example 0.6 volts will appear on thelink monitor line 1164 due to the resistance in the diode D1 and a diodeD2. However, if the resistor R3 has a value equal to the value of thefuse link 1152 resistance, for example 16,000K Ω, then the voltage onthe link monitor line 1164 will be about 2.8 volts. One advantage of theinvention is that by printing the fuse link 1152 with a known value, itis possible to significantly reduce the possibility of counterfeits byin effect measuring the resistance value of the fuse link 1152.

In one embodiment of the invention, once the value of the resistance ofthe fuse link 1152 is determined, the voltage of the output of the powersupply 1154 can be measured using a voltage divider including a pair ofresistors R1 and R2. The output of this voltage divider is applied overa high voltage monitor line 1166 to the analog to digital converter (notshown) on the support microcontroller 1102. In this manner it ispossible for the support microcontroller 1102 to determine if there issufficient charge on the capacitor C1 to blow the fuse link 1152. Whenthe voltage on the capacitor C1 has reached a predetermined value, suchas 470 volts, this voltage is applied to the fuse link 1152 via a switchSW1 and over the fuse excitation plate 1134 and the sensor pad 1132M.The switch SW1 can be a field effect transistor under control of thesupport microcontroller 1102 via a line 1166. It should be noted thatthe diode D1 serves to protect the link monitor line 1164 from the highvoltage on the capacitor C1. Also, in this circuit 1096, the diode D2prevents the current in the fuse link 1152 from pulling the pad 1132M tomore than 0.7 volts above ground.

One of the advantages of the circuit 1096 shown in FIG. 77 is that theplate 1132M can be used as both a sensor plate for sensing the variouscriteria in the ticket 700 as described above and as ground plate forstigmatizing the ticket 700. Here a switch SW2, which also can be afield effect transistor, is switched on at the same time the switch SW1is closed in response to the stigmatization signal on the line 1166.This prevents the current in the fuse link 1152 from returning to thesensor excitation circuit.

In the preferred embodiment, after the stigmatization voltage has beenapplied from capacitor C1 to the electronic fuse junction 1146, theswitches SW1 and SW2 are opened and the support microprocessor 1102measures the voltage on the link monitor line 1164. If the voltage onthis line is 5 volts, indicating that the fuse link 1152 might have beenblown, the ticket 700 is advanced by the stepper motor 1058 one step or0.02 inches. The support microcontroller 1102 again measures the voltageon the link monitor line 1164 and if the voltage is significantly below5 volts, the stigmatization process is initiated again. After five suchsteps without a significant drop in the voltage on the link monitor line1164, it is assumed that the fuse link 1152 has been successfully blown.At this point, the stigmatization process has been completed and thehigh voltage power supply 1154 is inhibited by a signal on line 1156.One advantage of using an electronic fuse junction having dimensionslarger than the excitation plate 1134 and the sensor plate 1132M, isthat it is possible to test the fuse link 1152 over a number of steps toensure that it has been opened.

The following is the preferred criteria for using the circuit such asthe circuit 1096 in the electronic validation machine 1000 to stigmatizelottery tickets. Losing tickets can be stigmatized although there is noapparent advantage to doing so. Conversely, it is not apparent thatthere is any particular disadvantage to stigmatizing a losing ticket.Therefore, losing tickets will be stigmatized. Winning tickets should bestigmatized. In the event of a barcode misread, the ticket preferablyshould not be stigmatized. The electronic validation machine 1000 shouldback the ticket out and request a rescan. The ticket may have beeninserted backward or upside down.

With respect to improperly played tickets, the general conclusion is tostigmatize all of them. Regarding counterfeit tickets and tickets thathave been tampered with, as detected by measuring the electricalproperties of the fuse link 1152 as described above, the ticket shouldnot be stigmatized. Rather the ticket should be retained by the lotteryagent and submitted for analysis.

IX. A Player Activated Game System

FIGS. 78-82 depict a first embodiment of a player activated game system.For simplicity the system described herein reflects one embodiment orapplication of the overall system concept. For purposes of thisdescription, the exemplary embodiment of FIGS. 78-82 is described in thecontext of a lottery application. Specifically to illustrate some of thesystem concepts and components of the system, a game system is describedthat can play like a conventional instant lottery ticket game thatutilizes an electronic game device 1200 as a player activated electronicvalidation machine (“EVM”) in combination with game cards formatted asinstant lottery tickets. For convenience and consistency of description,the term EVM is used herein even though the EVM might not performvalidation functions per se. There are other applications of the systemand its components including, for example, coupon and recreationalgames. This particular embodiment of the system of FIGS. 78-82 includesthe EVM 1200 shown in FIG. 78 and what is effectively an instant typelottery ticket 1202 having a front surface 1204 shown in FIG. 79 and aback surface 1206 shown in FIG. 80. As an example of one mode in whichthe system can operate, a player would purchase one or more of thetickets 1202; insert one of the tickets 1202 into a ticket receivingslot 1208 configured in the EVM 1200; and preferably play a computertype game on the EVM 1200 in which the outcome or prize value ispredetermined by information contained on the instant ticket 1202.Preferably, the player activated EVM 1200, is a relatively small,inexpensive electronic device, that can be used in conjunction withprinted instant type lottery tickets, such as the ticket 1202 and thatalso can be designed to receive and validate a variety of lottery typetickets such as standard 2″×4″ instant lottery ticket.

FIGS. 81 and 82 illustrate in schematic form one of a plurality ofpossible architectures for the EVM 1200 and the lottery ticket 1202respectively. Here, the EVM 1200 includes a connector 1210 having a setof interface connections or contacts 1212-1226 to interface with andobtain electronic signatures from the lottery ticket 1202. Printed inconductive ink on a substrate 1228 of the ticket 1202 are a set of eightcontacts 1230-1244 that are configured to interface directly with thecontacts 1212-1226 of the EVM connector 1210. In this example of theticket 1202, a set of electrical impedances 1246-1258 are also printedin conductive ink on the substrate 1228 and are connected on thesubstrate 1228 to the contacts 1230-1244 by a set of printed conductivelines indicated at 1260. The methods of printing and the composition ofthe conductive elements such as 1230-1244 and 1246-1258 and theconductive line 1260 can be selected using the criteria described aboveused in the printing of conductive elements on a substrate. However,because the conductive elements 1246-1258 will, preferably, vary fromticket to ticket, it might be desirable to use an imaging type printingprocess such as an inkjet printer to (selectively) print the elements1246-1258. In one alternative, printing methods such as flexographic andintaglio, including gravure, can be used to produce sets of tickets 1202having identical conductive elements such as the elements 1230-1260.Then a high intensity laser can be used be used to (selectively) cutsome of the appropriate conductive elements 1246-1258 so that theinformation contained in the elements 1246-1258 corresponds to theinformation printed in a barcode 1310 or 1314 on ticket 1202. In oneexample, the conductive elements 1246-1258 can be cut to reflect thewinning amount or prize as specified in the barcode 1310 if the ticket1202 is a lottery ticket.

For an application of this nature, a driving source, here a battery 1262in the EVM 1200, is connected to the contact 1224 via a line 1264 and iseffective to create the electronic signatures used to transferinformation from the ticket 1202 to the EVM 1200. It will beappreciated, that while the embodiments of the EVM 1200 and the ticket1202 contemplate direct physical contact of the contacts 1212-1226 withthe contacts 1230-1244, other types of electrical contacts or signaltransmission arrangements can be used such as the techniques describedabove that include capacitive, inductive, RF or other wireless methodsor even in some circumstances an optical contact can be used. Theelectronic signatures so obtained via the contacts 1212-1226 can then beused to impart particular information to a microprocessor 1266 in theEVM 1200. This information can include a wide variety of data such as:the type of game to be played; the predetermined prize level of thegame; the status of the ticket 1202; the presence or absence of theticket 1202 in the slot 1208 as well as other game or ticket parametersas might be required for a specific game or games.

As an example of the operation of the EVM 1200, the interface connection1226, when supplied with a predetermined signature, either voltage orcurrent, from the ticket 1202 generated in part by the impedance 1258,applies a control signal to a Field Effect Transistor (“FET”) 1268which, in turn, connects the battery 1262 to the a pair of powerconnections 1270 and 1272 of the microprocessor 1266. In the absence ofthis electronic signature, the FET 1268 is biased to an ‘OFF’ state bymeans of a resistor 1274 and the microprocessor 1266 is disconnectedfrom the power source 1262. When the FET 1268 is initially turned on,the microprocessor 1266 is caused to reset to its initial, power onstate. A set of software contained within the microprocessor 1266 inthis embodiment or in other locations such as an external memory 1318causes the microprocessor 1266 to examine several of its input portsthat are connected to the contacts 1212-1222 for electronic signatures.The input ports connected to contacts 1218 and 1220, for example,examine ticket impedances 1252 and 1254 for the electronic signaturesthat determine the type of game represented by the particular ticket1202. In this particular case, because there are two connections to themicroprocessor 1218 and 1220, this example would encode a maximum of 4games if a binary signature is employed. For a binary signature, theimpedances 1252 and 1254 can be the presence or absence of a resistance.However, significantly more than 4 games can be encoded by using severaldifferent discrete values for the impedances 1252 and 1254. As anexample, assume the impedance 1252 can have any one of three values: A,B, or C (trinary encoding). Assume also that impedance 1254 can have anyof these three values. As a result, nine different games can now berepresented by the electrical signatures M, AB, AC, BA, BB, BC, CA, CB,and CC (3×3). In like manner, the EVM contacts 1212-1216 in combinationwith the ticket connections 1230-1234 and impedances 1246-1250 providethe microprocessor 1266 with electronic signatures that can encode amaximum of 8 possible prize levels associated with each of the differentgame types if a binary encoding technique is employed. The use oftrinary encoding would permit a maximum of 27 different prize levels.

In one of the operations of this particular embodiment, themicroprocessor 1266 through the contact 1222 examines the ticket 1202for the presence of an additional electronic signature produced by theimpedance 1256. The value of the impedance 1256, usually a resistor, canbe altered by scratching a scratch-off coating 1276 applied over theimpedance 1256 on the ticket 1202 as shown in FIG. 79. This techniquepermits the microprocessor 1266 to determine the status of the ticket1202, that is: whether the ticket 1202 is played or unplayed in oneembodiment. In this example, the removal of the impedance 1256 in effectstigmatizes the ticket 1202 so that it cannot be played again. Moreover,it will be appreciated that the use of player-alterable electronicsignatures such as impedance 1256 has many possible uses includingselecting game variables, selecting game types, selecting game playpieces, selecting game branch points, and so forth. In addition, one ofthe impedances 1246-1258 can serve as a parity bit that can be, forexample, related to the game type or prize level in order to reducereading errors or possible forgeries of the ticket 1202.

In this embodiment, several additional ports of the microprocessor 1266are connected, preferably via a heat sealed flexcable 1278, to a liquidcrystal display (LCD) 1280. This connection can also be made using aZebra elastomeric connector or a set of mechanical pins. In thisexample, special LCD drive electronics are built into the microprocessor1266. While there are a number of different displays that can beemployed, an LCD is preferred for this example 1280 due to low powerconsumption. Here, the LCD 1280 can provide visual feedback to theplayer by indicating game options, game outcome, total points, gamesremaining, win/lose results and the like. Likewise, a variety of LCDtypes are possible including color, monochrome, dot-matrix, 7 segmentcharacters, 16 segment characters, custom characters/icons and anycombination and mix of any of the different types.

With reference to FIGS. 78 and 81, it is possible to also include on theEVM 1200 a set of pushbuttons 1282-1286 that can be used by the playerto input data to the microprocessor 1266 in the process of playing thegame(s). In the example shown, a pair of input ports 1288 and 1290 incombination with pushbuttons 1282-1286 and a pair of diodes 1292 and1294 permit three inputs to the microprocessor 1266. As shown in FIG.81, the pushbuttons 1282-1286 are all normally open and pulldownresistors (not shown) internal to the microprocessor 1266 result inlogic 0 inputs to ports 1288 and 1290. Pressing pushbutton 1282 connectsthe anode of the battery 1262 to the port 1288 and produces a logic 1input that is subsequently read and decoded by the microprocessor 1266as a player input. In a like manner, pressing pushbutton 1286 produces alogic 1 input to port 1290. The diodes 1292 and 1294 produce logic 1inputs to both ports 1288 and 1290 simultaneously when pushbutton 1284is pressed. It will be appreciated that the pushbuttons 1282-1286 can beany one of a number of configurations including but not limited toconductive ink membranes, conductive disks attached to silicone rubberbuttons, flexible metal contacts, capacitive pickups, variableresistance contacts, etc. with or without tactile feedback. Moreover,the number of pushbuttons is not limited to three, as indicated by anadditional set of pushbuttons 1296 and 1298 shown in FIG. 78 and canalso use binary coding or matrix encoding or variable impedance encodingdepending upon the particular design criteria of a game and of the EVM1200.

As shown in FIGS. 78 and 81, a sound capability can be included as anadditional feature to the EVM 1200. In this embodiment, an audible soundis generated using a loudspeaker 1300 in conjunction with a bridgeamplifier 1302 and an analog signal formed at a port 1304 of themicroprocessor 1266 produces a current signal which develops a voltageacross a resistor 1306. The analog information is stored as words orbytes of digital data stored in an internal memory of the microprocessor1266 and input to a digital to analog converter also contained in themicroprocessor 1266. Then the digital to analog converter outputs acurrent to the port 1304 having a value proportional to the digitaldata. The resistor 1306 operates to convert the current to a voltagethat is amplified at 1302 and applied to the loudspeaker 1300. In thisembodiment, the amplifier 1302 is a bridge type amplifier that producesthe sound pressure level from speaker 1300. As a further feature a port1308 of the microprocessor 1266 can be used to generate a control signalthat places the amplifier 1302 in a low power standby mode to conservebattery power. This arrangement as described will provide adequatevolume and fidelity from the speaker. However, many other soundgenerating circuits can be used including circuits that employ singleended amplifiers or single transistor amplifiers, or even a directconnection of the 1300 speaker to the microprocessor 1266. In addition,the embodiment shown does not preclude other methods of producing soundincluding the use of pulse width modulation signals, computer generatedtones or musical sounds, buzzers, piezo devices, or headphones. Likewisethe embodiment shown does not imply that sound must be used. It ispossible through the use of the port 1308 signal to mute the audio justas it is possible to cause the microprocessor 1266 to generate no audiosignal at the port 1304. Further, the microprocessor 1266 can beinstructed via electronic signatures read from the ticket 1202 or inputsignals from the pushbuttons 1282-1286 and 1296-1298 to mute the audio.

Depending on various circumstances including cost and applicationsimplemented, other modifications of the system shown in FIGS. 78-81 canbe made. For instance, the battery 1262 can be a non-chargeable orchargeable as well as being user-replaceable or non-replaceable. Themicroprocessor 1266 or its equivalent can use internal or external LCDdrive electronics. Likewise, the microprocessor 1266 can use internal orexternal program and data storage memory and the memory can be volatileor non-volatile, one time programmable or many times programmable orphysically removable or non removable. In other embodiments, the EVM1200 or microprocessor 1266 can contain an external port or ports 1320that permit the memory to be programmed from a personal computer orlottery terminal. The ports can be of the direct connection type orwireless type using RF, current loop, capacitive pickup, or lightincluding infra-red.

Various, alternatives, enhancements and operations of the systemdescribed above in connection with FIGS. 78-82 are described below. Inone embodiment related to an instant lottery type application, the prizeinformation is encoded in the ticket 1202 conductive ink jumpers1246-1250 generally as described above. In one arrangement, printedunder the scratch-off coating 1276 is a validation or ticketidentification number indicated by a broken line 1309 that can be usedto validate the ticket 1202. Along with initiating operation of the EVM1200 as described above, scratching off the coating 1276 can also havethe effect of stigmatizing the ticket 1202 against further play. Forexample, and as discussed above the conductive ink forming one or moreof the impedances 1246-1258 can be formed with the scratch-off coating1276 so that at least a portion of it is removed when the coating 1276is scratched off by the player. To facilitate scratching off the coating1276, the EVM can be configured with a planer portion 1311 locatedadjacent to and below the slot 1208 so that the portion of the ticket1202 including the scratch-off coating is supported when the ticket 1202is inserted in the slot 1208. The process of sensing by the EVM 1200that the scratch-off coating 1276 is first intact and then destroyed canserve the dual purpose of both stigmatizing the ticket and protectingagainst unscrupulous lottery ticket retailers prescreening tickets forhigh-tier winners.

In addition, the ticket 1202 can include a barcode 1310 printed on theback surface 1206 of the ticket 1202 as shown in FIG. 79 or on the backsurface 1206 of the ticket 1202. In this case the barcode 1310 includesticket validation information and can be in the traditional lotteryinterleaved Two-of-Five (I2of5) format with an associated validationnumber. In this embodiment, the barcode 1310 is synchronized with theimpedances 1246-1256 so the two agree on the prize amount and can beused to validate the ticket in the event that, in this particularexample, the results of a game displayed on the display 1280 indicatethat the game was a winner as suggested by a prize table 1312 printed onthe front 1204 of the ticket 1202. Also, the game play information canbe contained in a second, encrypted, barcode 1314, for example on thefront surface 1204. This play information may include such things as thegame to be played, the prize level of the ticket 1202, and at least aportion of the validation number. In one application, a bar code reader1316 located in the EVM 1200 can read the barcode 1314 prior to playingthe game encoded in the ticket.

FIG. 83 depicts one configuration of the substrate 1228 of the ticket1202 designed to reduce potential fraud including ticket picking. Inthis embodiment, some or all of the conductive elements 1230-1260 areconnected to a conductive shorting bar 1330 that is printed on aperforated tab 1332 that is attached to the ticket 1202 by a perforation1334. Removal of the tab 1332 will allow the player to insert the ticket1202 into the EVM 1200 for play.

FIGS. 84A and 84B depict another configuration of the ticket 1202designed to reduce potential fraud including ticket picking. In thisembodiment, some or all of the EVM's connector or contacts 1210 are incontact with a shorting bar 1336 having a tab portion 1338 where theshorting bar 1336 is attached to the surface 1204 of the ticket 1202.Pulling on the tab 1338 will remove the shorting bar 1336 resulting inelectrical contact between the contacts 1210 and 1230-1244 therebypermitting the ticket 1202 to be played.

As a result in an instant lottery type embodiment of the systemdescribed above, a player can use the ticket 1202 to activate the EVM1200, play a computer style game, and possibly win a prize predeterminedby the ticket 1202. Preferably, the computer games will have apredetermined outcome or result. By having a predetermined outcome, itmakes it possible in lottery applications of the system to construct aprize structure for a particular game or set of games where, forexample, books of the tickets 1202 are printed with a predeterminednumber of winners. One of the capabilities of the system is to allow aplayer to play an interactive game using the push buttons 1282-1286 andthe result of the game will be the same no matter which buttons arepushed. Programming techniques for such illusion of skill type games arewell known and described for example in U.S. Pat. No. 4,582,324. Suchgames as bowling or blackjack can be implemented using this technique.It is also possible to provide additional circuits, some scratchable andsome not, located on the ticket 1202 that can be used for a variety offunctions including starting the game, ending the game, changing thegame's play sequence, and even serving as pushbuttons to provideadditional control capability.

Due to the fact that this embodiment of the system permits standardizedEVM hardware and software manufacturing, all EVM devices 1200 can besubstantially identical, with the differences in games and playdetermined by the instant ticket 1202. As a result, this embodiment hasthe advantages of: eliminating the logistical complexity of handlingseeded EVMs; reducing the costs of the EVM 1200 or electronic cards; andchanging the economics of electronic card sales in that one EVM 1200 canplay several different types of games actuated by multiple differentinstant tickets 1202 thereby in certain applications allowing the EVM1202 to be sold at low cost or even given away. Thus, the playeractivated EVM 1202 and associated custom tickets 1202 can build on theinstant ticket product by offering dynamic game action and even sound tocorrespondingly enhance the player experience and perceived value.Moreover, because the game is contained within an electronic memoryassociated with the EVM 1200, the playtime and thus perceived value ofthe game can be increased far beyond the capability of a standardscratch ticket to support. Instant tickets measuring 3×3 inches, as anexample, could produce a game that lasts for several minutes. Thatfeature combined with game graphics displayed on the display 1280 andassociated EVM sound ‘bites’ can also make the game a multi-mediaexperience. Winning plays can be announced both visually on the display1280 and audibly on the speaker 1300. Additional capabilities caninclude physically modifying the ticket 1202 so as to allow scratchingof additional areas on the ticket 1202 during game play to add anotherdimension to the game.

In another embodiment, the use of programmable memory or external memorypods such as a plug-in-memory 1318 as depicted in FIGS. 78 and 81 canpermit the player to personalize his EVM 1200 so that it contains, forexample, only preferred game types or prize levels. Contents of the EVM1200 can thus be modified at the point of sale, for example, to includethe player's favorite numbers or purchase record, or name and passwordto provide player allegiance information or provide gifts or couponsbased upon the record of purchases. In addition, the multi-mediacapability of the EVM 1200 can also provide an opportunity to displaylocal advertisements or announcements for a player or a region uniqueparameter.

Also in lottery applications, because the EVM 1200 in the embodimentdescribe above is not a gambling device per se, in this case the instantticket 1202 can be considered the gambling component, sales of thedevice may avoid limitations associated with standard lottery tickets.For example, the EVM 1200 can be sold anywhere containing onlyconventional games of skill such as the video game Tetris and the ownercan then purchase instant tickets 1202 at the conventional lotteryoutlet to play gambling style games. This characteristic of the EVM 1200permits downloading games from a personal computer 1320 or over theInternet, for example.

Furthermore, specially programmed tickets or cards 1202 can be used toprovide an activation code for the EVM 1200. For example, an activationcard can include a barcode such as the barcode 1310 containing anencrypted activation code. The barcode 1310 would be read and decryptedat the point of sale and used to generate a sales slip containing amulti-digit activation key, which is synchronized with the card 1202.When the activation card 1202 is inserted into the slot 1208 of the EVM1200, the information contained on the activation card 1202 is read bythe EVM 1200 and used, as a key to determine if the activation key dataentered by an EVM keypad is correct. Theft of EVMs 1200 would thus bediscouraged since the stolen unit would not function without the salesreceipt.

FIGS. 85-89 illustrate another embodiment of a player activated gamesystem. In the preferred structure of this embodiment, an EVM 1350 isconfigured with an upper printed surface 1352 that, in this case,replicates a traditional game card or lottery ticket. The EVM 1350includes a housing 1354, a bottom portion 1356 and a pair of guidemembers 1358 and 1360 for receiving and retaining the ticket 1352 withinthe EVM 1350. In some applications the ticket 1352 can be purchasedseparately from the EVM 1350 and inserted by a player or the EVM 1350and ticket 1352 can be sold as an assembled unit. In any event, the EVM1350 can also include a display 1362, preferably an LCD display unit,and with particular reference to FIGS. 87 and 88, a printed circuitboard 1364 secured to the bottom portion 1356. Integrated with thecircuit board 1364 is a microprocessor or computer, indicated by 1366 inFIGS. 88 and 89, operatively connected to the display 1362 by anyconvenient method such as a flexcable 1368. A battery 1370 is providedto supply power to the EVM 1350. In this embodiment, a pressuresensitive switch indicated at 1372 is also integrated into the circuitboard 1364. In the preferred embodiment, the switch 1372 includesconductive carbon applied to a plastic membrane located above thecircuit board 1364 that is effective to complete a circuit between thebattery 1370 and the microprocessor 1366 although other types ofswitches can be used including the FET 1268. In this particularembodiment, the ticket 1352 includes a scratch-off coating 1374 appliedover a set of indicia 1376 printed on the ticket 1352. Here, the playerfollowing the printed instructions on the scratch-off coating “SCRATCHTO PLAY” removes the coating 1374 and pushes where indicated by theindicia 1376 which can have the effect of applying power to themicroprocessor 1366. This type of arrangement including the switch 1372can also be used to control the game or games programmed in themicroprocessor 1366. Other mechanisms can also be used to activate theEVM 1350 including a pull-tab arrangement 1394 of the type described inconnection with FIG. 93.

Similarly to the ticket 1202 shown in FIG. 82, the ticket 1352preferably includes a set of printed circuit elements of the type1230-1260 and generally indicated at 1378 in FIG. 88 in phantom form. Inthe preferred embodiment of the system including the EVM 1350 and theticket 1352, the printed elements 1378 are used to represent apredetermined prize level and other information in the same manner asthe circuit elements 1230-1260 printed on the ticket 1202 describedabove.

As shown in FIGS. 88 and 89, in order to provide an electricalconnection of the circuit elements 1378 to the microprocessor 1366, aset of connector pins 1380 is secured to the circuit board 1364 andelectrically connected to the microprocessor 1366. When the ticket 1352is fully inserted or positioned in the EVM 1350 as shown in FIG. 85, thepins 1380 will make electrical connections with the circuit elements1378 thereby permitting the information contained in the circuitelements 1378 to be transmitted to the microprocessor.

FIGS. 90, 91 and 92 illustrate embodiments of the pins 1380. In oneembodiment of the pins 1380 shown in FIG. 90, an example of a pin 1380Ais configured with a curved portion 1382 with a lower portion thatnormally resides in a hole or other indentation 1384 configured in thecircuit board 1364. In this arrangement, the pins 1380A due to a biasingor spring action are additionally effective to retain the ticket 1352 inthe EVM 1350 and at the same time to permit insertion of the tickets1352 into the EVM 1350 either at the time of manufacture or by a player.To increase the biasing force retaining the ticket 1352 in the desiredposition on the circuit board 1364, the angle between the portion of thepin 1380A inserted in the circuit board 1364 and the portion connectedto the curved portion 1382 is preferably 90 degrees or less. In a secondembodiment depicted in FIG. 91, one end of a pin 1380B is inserted at anangle into the circuit board 1364 and the other end is curved downwardlyto provide a retaining force on the ticket 1352. In a third embodiment,a pin 1380C is shown in FIG. 92 that is similar to the pin configuration1380B. In this embodiment, however, the pin 1380C extendsperpendicularly through the circuit board 1364. To aid in retaining andaligning the pins 1380C on the circuit board 1364, the pins are securedtogether by a plastic alignment strip 1386.

Another aspect of the EVM 1350 as depicted in FIGS. 85-87 is that theEVM 1350 can be configured with an aperture 1388 in the bottom portion1356 of the housing 1354. In this embodiment, the aperture 1388 is inregistry with a barcode 1390 printed on the bottom surface of the ticket1352. Here, the barcode 1390 can contain validation and inventoryinformation much like a conventional instant lottery ticket. Preferably,the barcode 1390 will include information relating to the prize value ofthe ticket 1352 and thus it will be functionally related to theinformation contained in the conductive elements 1378. Thus forinstance, a winning game programmed on the ticket 1352 can be validatedin the same manner as a conventional instant lottery ticket, forinstance, by a lottery agent using an agent terminal.

FIG. 93 illustrates a further embodiment of a player activated gamesystem. This embodiment can include several of the same basic componentsas the embodiment shown in FIG. 88 such as the display 1362, the printedcircuit board 1364, the microprocessor 1366, the cable 1368, the battery1370, the player operated carbon switch 1372, and the contact pins 1380,that in this embodiment are contained in a housing 1390, preferablyformed from plastic. As with the housing 1354, the housing 1390 caninclude an aperture 1392 for reading a barcode printed on a game card.In this embodiment, a pull tab 1394 can be used to connect the battery1370 to the microprocessor 1366 as illustrated in the block diagram ofFIG. 89. Secured over the components 1362-1372, 1380 and 1394 is aprinted game identification card 1396. In this embodiment thatreplicates in form a conventional instant lottery ticket, theidentification card 1396 includes a pay table 1398 and a printed pushbutton 1400 located over the switch 1372. In addition, this example ofthe identification card 1396 is configured with three apertures orwindows 1402A-1402C located in registry with the display 1362 such thatthe results of the game programmed in the microprocessor 1366 can beobserved by the player. Preferably, the identification card 1396 isprinted on a paper substrate in the same manner as a conventionalinstant lottery ticket but other materials can be used such as plasticto form the identification card 1396. To program this embodiment with apredetermined result or payout according to, for example, the pay table1398, a programming card 1404, preferably printed with electroniccircuit elements such as the elements 1230-1260, can be inserted into aslot 1406 in the housing 1390 where the contact pins 1380 will makecontact with the contacts 1230-1244 printed on the card 1404. In onelottery application of the embodiment shown in FIG. 93, the basicmachine including the housing 1390, the printed circuit board 1364 andthe microprocessor 1366 programmed with one or more games can be massproduced in one location. Then sets of the programming cards 1404 can beprinted in another location where, for instance, each set or book of thecards 1404 defines a prize structure for a particular lottery game.

There are a plurality of displays that may be used with the EVMsdescribed above. FIGS. 94A-94C provide a graphic illustration of onetype of display 1280 or 1362 for one of many types of games that can beplayed on the various embodiments of the player activated game systemsshown in FIGS. 79-93. In this example which replicates a standard casinotype slot machine, the display 1362 is an LCD having a total of 35display elements where 12 elements indicated generally at 1408 can beused to display several varieties of fruit (banana, apple, orange,cherry, lemon) which in FIG. 94A are three apples. Another 21 displayelements indicated generally at 1410 can be used to display threenumerical digits and a pair of display elements 1412 and 1414 can beused to display a “WIN” display and a “TOTAL” display respectively. Theslot machine game can be implemented on, for example, the embodimentshown in FIG. 93 where, as indicted on the game identification card1396, the game unit or lottery ticket of FIG. 93 can be purchased for$20.00 and each simulated handle pull in the game is equivalent to $1.00thus giving the player a simulated twenty handle pulls. After applyingpower to the microprocessor 1366 and LCD display 1362 by removing thepull tab 1394, the player can use the carbon switch 1372 to, in effect,pull the handle of the slot machine. As shown in FIG. 94B, one outcomeof the game can be three bananas displayed on the elements 1408 with thedigits 1410 indicating that these symbols are worth $100. Anotheroutcome is shown in FIG. 94C where three different types of fruit aredisplayed by the elements 1408 and the digits 1410 indicate that thevalue of this pull is zero. Although not shown, the TOTAL display 1414can be used by the microprocessor 1366 to periodically display on thedigits 1410 the cumulative total of the wins and after twenty such pullscan display the total or winning value of the game. In the preferredembodiment of this game as well as other multiplay games, at least onewinning pull or play is programmed into each programming card 1404 so asto enhance player interest. Also, to maintain player interest, the gameprogrammed in the microprocessor 1366 can use a random shuffle seed torandomize loosing pulls or other game outcomes so that it does notappear to players purchasing multiple game systems of the type shown inFIGS. 78-93 that all the games are programmed the same way. There are aplurality of methods that may be used to generate the random seed. Onesuch method comprises counting clock pulses in an accumulator startingwith removal of the pulltab 1394 and ending with the first depression ofthe carbon button 1372.

As a result, by using programming cards of the type 1404 or tickets ofthe type 1202 and 1352, it is possible to manufacture a large number ofidentical electronic game playing devices, yet structure the outcomes ofthe games, that will appear to the players to be random, into apredetermined prize structure.

1. A game apparatus comprising: an electronic game device including acomputer, an electronic display operatively connected to said computer,a game card interface operatively connected to said computer, and atleast one game programmed in said computer wherein said game has aplurality of predetermined outcomes; and a game card having a substrateprinted with a plurality of electronic circuit elements that containdata specifying one of said predetermined game outcomes wherein saidgame card is configured for connection with said interface such that aplayer can initiate play of said game by said computer resulting in saidspecified one of said predetermined outcomes being displayed on saiddisplay.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said game is an instantlottery game and wherein said predetermined outcomes are prize amounts.3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said device includes a power sourceto apply electrical power to said game card and said computer iseffective to determine said specified predetermined game outcome fromthe electronic signatures of at least a portion of said circuitelements.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said circuit elements areprinted in conductive ink.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein saidcomputer is effective to determine said specified predetermined gameoutcome from the impedances of at least a portion of said circuitelements.
 6. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said card includes ascratch-off coating covering at least a portion of said circuit elementsand wherein removal of said coating will be effective to remove at leasta portion of said conductive elements and to stigmatize said card. 7.The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said device includes a housing and saidinterface includes a slot configured in said housing to permit a playerto insert said card into said interface to make said connection.
 8. Theapparatus of claim 7 wherein said device includes at least onepushbutton operatively connected to said computer effective to permit aplayer to start and to control said game.
 9. The apparatus of claim 8wherein said computer includes a plurality of said games and said dataon said card also includes game identification data that identifies oneof said games to be played by said computer.
 10. The apparatus of claim1 wherein device includes a power source and a switch to applyelectrical power to said computer and said card includes a set ofprinted indicia positioned such that when said card is located in saidinterface pressure on said indicia will operate said switch.
 11. Alottery game apparatus comprising: a plurality of electronic gamedevices each having a housing that includes a computer, a displayoperatively connected to said computer, a game card interfaceoperatively connected to said computer, a power source and wherein eachof said devices includes a first game programmed in said computerwherein said first game has a plurality of predetermined outcomesincluding at least one winning outcome; a set of game cards wherein eachof said cards in said set includes data printed in the form of circuitelements representing a selected one of said game outcomes wheredifferent cards in said set have different ones of said datarepresenting different outcomes; and wherein said cards are adapted forconnection with said interface thereby permitting a player to initiateplay of said game on said device resulting in said computer playing saidgame and generating the selected one of said predetermined outcomesrepresented by said data on said card connected to said interface andwherein at least said winning outcome is displayed on said display. 12.The apparatus of claim 11 wherein each of said cards includes a barcodehaving information related to said selected outcome contained in saidcircuit elements in that card.
 13. The apparatus of claim 12 whereinsaid housing includes an aperture located such that said bar code isvisible when said card is connected to said interface.
 14. The apparatusof claim 13 wherein said barcode includes validation data.
 15. Theapparatus of claim 11 wherein the number of said winning outcomes insaid set of cards corresponds to a predetermined prize structure. 16.The apparatus of claim 11 wherein said device includes a plurality ofpushbuttons operatively connected to said computer effective to permit aplayer to control said game.
 17. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein saidgame is an illusion of skill type game wherein operation of saidpushbuttons has no effect on said game outcome.
 18. The apparatus ofclaim 11 wherein said computer additionally includes a plurality of saidgames and wherein said data in said cards additionally identifies one ofsaid plurality of games.
 19. A lottery method comprising: manufacturinga set of electronic game device each said device having substantiallyidentical components including: a housing, a computer, a displayoperatively connected to said computer, a game card interfaceoperatively connected to said computer, a game programmed in saidcomputer wherein said game has a plurality of selectable, predeterminedwinning amounts; printing a set of game cards each of said cards havinga substrate including data printed in the form of conductive elementsspecifying one of said winning amounts, according to a predeterminedprize structure; and inserting and playing said cards in said deviceswherein an indication of said specified winning amount for each of saidcards played is displayed on said display.
 20. The method of claim 19including configuring said housing with an aperture and printing saidcard with a barcode containing validation information functionallyrelated to said data and wherein said barcode is located on said cardsso as to be in registry with said aperture when said cards are insertedin said interface.